{"id":20109,"date":"2024-02-09T16:49:28","date_gmt":"2024-02-09T16:49:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.webmonkey.com\/how-to-become-a-food-blogger-how-sam-became-a-full-time-food-blogger\/"},"modified":"2024-05-24T19:45:19","modified_gmt":"2024-05-24T19:45:19","slug":"how-to-start-a-food-blog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.webmonkey.com\/how-to-start-a-food-blog\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Become A Food Blogger – How Sam Became A Full-Time Food Blogger"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a blogging niche<\/a>, food blogging is one of the most popular niches around.<\/p>\n

But, if you're trying to make money online<\/a> through blogging, this popularity might sound scary. After all, a popular blogging niche just means more competiton, right?<\/p>\n

Well, as a personal finance blogger who made around $22,000 from blogging last year<\/a>, I can tell you that niche competition doesn't mean you can't make money.<\/p>\n

But, if you're wondering how to become a food blogger or are curious how to make money as a food blogger, are you in for a treat!<\/p>\n

Today, we have an interview with Sam<\/strong> from the keto and low carb food blog Mouthwatering Motivation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you want to learn how to create a successful food blog<\/strong> and thrive in one of the most competitive niches out there, this is absolutely the post for you.<\/p>\n

Let's get to it!<\/p>\n

How To Become A Food Blogger – How Sam Went Full-Time<\/strong><\/h2>\n

I'd like to thank Sam for taking the time to share her insights and journey on becoming a full-time food blogger.<\/p>\n

In this interview, we're covering:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Why Sam started a food blog in the first place<\/li>\n
  2. How long Sam has been blogging for<\/li>\n
  3. How Sam makes money as a food blogger<\/li>\n
  4. What specific traffic and monetization strategies work best<\/li>\n
  5. How much do food bloggers make<\/li>\n
  6. If starting an Instagram food blog is viable<\/li>\n
  7. If starting a food blog in 2021 and beyond is still a good idea<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Take it away, Sam!<\/p>\n

    About Sam & Mouthwatering Motivation<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    Hi! I\u2019m Sam. I\u2019m a 25 year old full-time food blogger and recipe creator.<\/p>\n

    \"Sam-Mouthwatering-Motivation\"<\/p>\n

    To get an idea of where I started, I went to school for Foods and Nutrition at Brescia University-College.<\/p>\n

    During this time I also competed in a figure competition. I met most of my friends at the Western Rec Center since I spent the majority of my day there outside of classes!<\/p>\n

    I also worked as a baker\/cashier at a French Bakery & Patisserie in London, ON. Following school I took a job at a supplement store where I further increased my nutritional knowledge.<\/p>\n

     When & Why Did You Start Mouthwatering Motivation? <\/h3>\n

    It\u2019s a long story, but I\u2019ll do my best to condense it!<\/p>\n

    I was actually a big art nerd in high school. I had no interest in working out and nutrition at the time.<\/p>\n

    But in 2011, I was diagnosed with scoliosis<\/strong>. It came as a huge shock as I\u2019d never had any serious health conditions before.<\/p>\n

    It was so severe I had to have surgery as soon as possible since I could run the risk of my ribs puncturing my lung if I continued to let it progress.<\/p>\n

    So, that same year, I had spinal fusion. I came out on the other end 2 inches taller with 2 titanium rods and 20 screws in my back (I really love singing \u201cI am Titanium\u201d).<\/p>\n

    This resulted in a whole lot of reflection time (and sitting in a chair trying to pick things up with a plastic claw my parents gave me).<\/p>\n

    Ultimately my surgery really changed my outlook on life<\/strong>. I valued being able to walk, run, lift things.. etc, a lot more than I did prior. I no longer took my health for granted.<\/p>\n

    This is also when I started blogging. I actually wrote about my surgery first and about my experience to try and help others.<\/p>\n

    But as I grew stronger and was able to get back to normal physical activities, I started getting into weight-lifting and began eating a higher protein diet<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    I was determined to replace the lost muscle in my back, and in-doing so, I unknowingly started a whole new path of life.<\/p>\n

    I changed courses in high school. I decided to take more courses related to nutrition. I asked what grades I needed to get into the Brescia Foods and Nutrition program and I made it happen.<\/p>\n

    Then, the following year, I started a food blog called Mouthwatering Motivation<\/a> (My Dad wanted me to call it ProteinQueen – very thankful I went a different route).<\/p>\n

    \"Mouthwatering-Motivation-food-blog\"<\/p>\n

    Originally it was a high protein recipe blog as I\u2019d starting to gain a small following online and some friends had asked for me to share my recipes.<\/p>\n

    My first recipe was actually a Pizza Frittata<\/a>, and it\u2019s still up on my old site today if you\u2019d like to see where I started.<\/p>\n

    I continued to post on my free WordPress food blog for about 3 years before I actually learned you could make money blogging<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    So for me, starting a food blog was the result of a passion<\/strong>. It was never about making money as a food blogger when I started.<\/p>\n

    However, when I finally monetized my blog, I was able to start making money quite early on since I did already have a following. But it was still a difficult road to making any sort of livable income.<\/p>\n

    As the years went on, my blog eventually became a fully low carb, gluten free website due to my growing interest in the ketogenic diet and my love for those specific recipes.<\/p>\n

    How Did Your Food Blog Change Over The Years?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    Oh man, it\u2019s been a rollercoaster.<\/p>\n

    Seriously. I could go on forever about the amount of times I\u2019ve screamed at my computer screen, cried when a 4000 word post didn\u2019t save (I re-wrote that post TWICE that same day due to a site error, LOL…Note to all bloggers, back-up your work outside of your blogging platform!)<\/p>\n

    I\u2019ve had weeks and even months where I was ready to give up on my blog. I actually abandoned it once for about two months and said it wasn\u2019t for me.<\/p>\n

    But I felt lost without running my food blog<\/strong>. It always seemed to pull me back in. especially when someone would leave a nice comment on an old recipe.<\/p>\n

    After my brief pause, I slowly started posting again after those 2 months and I\u2019ve been going strong ever since (still with the occasional moments of panic and frustration of course). I don\u2019t think I could have kept with it this long if I didn\u2019t love it.<\/p>\n

    Overall, my blog has grown immensely over the years. Not only in size and following but in quality of the content. I\u2019ve learned SO much and I am still learning something new each day.<\/p>\n

    \"keto-almond-croissants\"
    One of Sam's recent recipes: Keto Almond Croissants.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    In terms of actual stats, my blog had 1773 monthly viewers and made 0$ in the entire year of 2012<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    That\u2019s not bad for my first year of starting a recipe blog.<\/p>\n

    But, fast-forward to recent years, and I\u2019ve received between 1.8M – 3M+ views in a single year<\/strong>. It still blows my mind that that many people are interested in what I make!<\/p>\n

    When it comes to other social media platforms, I\u2019ve seen quite a bit of growth there as well.<\/p>\n

    I started my Instagram<\/a> around the time I started my blog and it now has 14.3K followers at the time of writing this post (I will say I\u2019ve only focussed on Instagram and really taken it seriously in the last 1 year).<\/p>\n

    My Pinterest account<\/a> is my largest traffic source<\/a> and has always been one of my biggest achievements.<\/p>\n

    I grew it to 1M monthly viewers in just my first year  of creating an account (I think around the year of 2018) and at its peak it was at 7.1M monthly viewers<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    Recently, Pinterest made some changes to their algorithm, so my traffic is back down to 3.2M and I\u2019m working on a new strategy to bring it back-up!<\/p>\n

    \"Food-Blogger-Pinterest\"
    \n<\/strong><\/p>\n

    I\u2019ve also expanded into other social media platforms because I\u2019d like to rely less on Pinterest. I think this is an important tip for anyone trying to create a successful food blog since the diversity can help you grow your following.<\/p>\n

    I\u2019ve also had a YouTube channel<\/a> for years but never took it seriously until the past 2 1\/2 months.<\/p>\n

    In the last month alone I\u2019ve gained over 400+ new subscribers putting me at almost 3000 so I\u2019m excited to see where that takes me!<\/p>\n

    \"YouTube-food-blogger\"<\/p>\n

    I also share content in Facebook groups. I receive a small amount of traffic from them but more-so I find it\u2019s a great place to meet people and connect.<\/p>\n

    Lastly, I will say that my traffic has sky-rocketed and crumbled and sky-rocketed again over the years.<\/p>\n

    It\u2019s never completely consistent. The internet is constantly changing and you have to learn to adapt to keep growing a food blog. But I think that\u2019s what makes this job so exciting.<\/p>\n

    Extra Reading – How To Make Money With Pinterest<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    How Did You Become A Food Blogger & Go Full-Time?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    In the beginning, I grew my blog almost exclusively with Pinterest and sharing in Facebook groups for the first 3 years<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    I knew nothing about SEO (Search Engine Optimization) or how to properly structure a blog post.<\/p>\n

    I find Pinterest is best for beginners because you can rank and get discovered almost immediately if you have good-quality images or enticing pins. It\u2019s also easier to start seeing traffic than Google, so if you create content often I\u2019d highly recommend it.<\/p>\n

    Pinning your own content to a variety of well-named boards often is what can really grow your site quickly.<\/p>\n

    Pinterest used to focus more on re-pinning content already on the platform but in 2021, it's looking for more fresh content.<\/p>\n

    This can also mean, creating multiple Pinterest pins (images) for the same blog post. I use Canva<\/a> to create all of my pins and would highly recommend it.<\/p>\n

    \"Food-blogger-create-pins\"<\/p>\n

    However, although I mainly focussed on Pinterest and I think it\u2019s a great way to grow your blog quickly, don\u2019t skip out on SEO<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    You\u2019ll thank yourself later if you focus on creating SEO friendly blog posts early-on.<\/p>\n

    There\u2019s plenty of YouTube videos and blog posts explaining it so do your best to educate yourself on the topic if you want to start ranking on Google.<\/p>\n

    Extra Reading – Is Tailwind Worth It For Bloggers<\/a><\/strong>?<\/p>\n

    How Does A Food Blogger Make Money?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    Food bloggers make money in all sorts of ways!<\/p>\n

    But the most common methods I\u2019d say are:<\/p>\n