01: Zero to Mediavine in One Year

Listen to this episode of Mind Over Blog on the player above, or find it on Apple, Spotify, Google Podcasts. 

Welcome to the first episode of Mind Over Blog Podcast. This week on the podcast Loren interviews Nicolette from Home Cooked Roots about how she grew her food blog and made it to Mediavine in one year.

Mediavine in a Year

Nicolette is a paralegal turned vegan food blogger, and she is here on the podcast to talk about her journey and to share how she started her blog and made it to Mediavine in one year.

She talks about what she did right over the last year that led to her success.

From themes and keyword research to nailing her niche, Nicolette shares so many insightful tips to get you headed in the same direction of Mediavine and fast!

Her brand, Home Cooked Roots has grown from zero to over 50K in less than a year and you will learn about her most successful strategies in this episode.

In this episode you will learn:

• How it’s important to invest in your blog from the beginning
• Using a strong theme for food blogs
• How keyword research worked for Home-Cooked Roots and the keyword research tool she prefers
• Figure out who you want to serve with your recipes and how important it is to figure who you are talking to
• How to make everything you do target that audience such as photography, recipes etc
• If you need a schedule to succeed
• The courses and ways she invested in herself to make her blog thrive
• Google stories and the success it brought her

Resources:

• Home Cooked Roots
• Feast Design Co.
• Keysearch
• Follow Nicolette on Instagram and Facebook

If you have any questions, thoughts or just want to chat be sure to email them to mindoverblog@gmail.com

Show Transcript

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Loren Runion
 Hello, Nicolette, welcome to the mind over blog Podcast. I am so excited to have you here. Thank you so much. I’m so excited as well, this is so fun. It’s so fun. We have had many conversations on Instagram, and I stalked you for your phone number. And so we text occasionally. But it is really fun to get to talk to you on this podcast. And I know that you are going to have so much good information to be sharing with the audience. So I cannot wait to dive in. And you’re the very first guest. So that should make you feel really super special.

Nicolete
I do feel really special. I was very surprised. And you asked me to be on your podcast because I didn’t think I was very special. But thank you.

Loren Runion
Oh, you’re very special. You’re an awesome person. I know you have an awesome blog, and I want to share that with everybody. So without further ado, let’s just hop right in. Alrighty. Okay, so you know that a couple weeks ago, I did put some feelers out to my Instagram audience about what they would ask a blogger that made it to media vine, because you know, that’s what this episode’s about. You made awesome leaps in one year. And I personally know that you did it by doing the right things. So I wanted to bring you on to the podcast, and I wanted to share with everyone kind of your journey, because you did it not by getting lucky. And you did it not by having some viral post, you know, go crazy. You did it. I know by hard work and doing the right things. So I did put some feelers out. And I asked them, what they would ask you and and a lot of people just said, What’s your secret? What did you do to make the goal like you like they just want to know the secrets. But I know there’s more than just secrets. So I want to start off with kind of just what your background is like, what made you start a blog? What your blog is, like, tell everybody what your blog is, and what made you like initially start this crazy food blog journey.

Nicolete
Yeah, so I, I originally thought that I wanted to be an attorney and I had gone so far as I studied for the L SAT, I took the L sat a couple of times, I was this close to accepting a spot at a local law school here. And then I changed my mind at the last second. And it was partially because I wasn’t 100% sure it was the right thing for me. But it was also a lot a large part because it was going to be really expensive. And I already had a significant amount of student loan debt from undergrad. And so I really started to freak out about the amount of debt I was going to be taking on. So I decided to postpone law school, get a job at a law firm and make sure that I really wanted to do it. And so I got a job working as a paralegal, I still work for this firm. And I determined that I really don’t want to be an attorney. And so once I realized that I was like, Okay, what am I going to do, I don’t know what I’m going to do. And in my free time, I had actually created this Instagram account, completely separate from the account that I have now. And it was just an Instagram account. And I was sharing how to eat vegan on a budget because I was really intense about getting out of debt, I wanted to pay off my student loans as fast as I could. And so I just created this Instagram account to share with people how you can budget your money to eat well, but not spend very much. And so when I had created that account, I had started following a lot of food bloggers online. And I started to realize that you can actually make like a decent business and a decent income and living off of a food blog. And I bought very intrigued by that. And so I thought, you know, I think that’s something that I can do. Maybe that’s something I want to try and so I decided that I was going to completely start from scratch. I just like randomly deleted the Instagram account I had about budgeting and I created this new account homecooked routes. And it kind of just went from there. I started with food blogger pro I became a food blogger pro member right from the beginning. And I it just took off from there. I just I just built it from there. So that’s kind of how I got started.Yeah

Loren Runion
that’s a that’s a really awesome story. I love it because like something was really Like your intuition was really telling you that it wasn’t right for you to go down that long your path. And so I really love that. you tuned into that. Yeah. And it led you to probably something like, probably one of the craziest rides you’ve ever been for the last year.

Nicolette
I know, I think if you were to ask, so that was like, about five years ago now when I had applied to law school, and I was trying to figure out if that’s what I wanted to do. And if you told me that I would be, you know, about to potentially quit my job and go full time in food blogging, I would have not believed you. So it’s definitely very crazy how I got here. But I’m really grateful for how everything ended up working out.

Loren Runion
Yeah, definitely. And that’s it, I knew he would be close to quitting your job. So we’ll get into that. Because that’s very exciting. And I know that that is like, a very big goal for a lot of people that start this right. And so did you. Were you tempted to like, have a different niche? Like, did you want to do budgeting, vegan cooking when you started your blog? Or did you know right away that you wanted it to be like, I know that you do a lot of comfort foods, you have on your Instagram account that you won’t see a lot of kale here, which is very funny. And I love that. Did you know right away that that’s what you wanted to do?

Nicolette
Um, no, I think originally I did. I did wonder if I, I should be doing it as like a beacon on beacon on a budget website. But I said, I kind of got freaked out about that. And I was like, I don’t know if I’m putting myself in a box by, you know, forcing myself to make only budget friendly recipes. And so I wanted to go a little bit more broad myself, some some wiggle room. And I think that was the right move. Because even though a lot of the foods I do still cook and have on my website are pretty affordable. I think it’s fun to make recipes that are a little bit more indulgent. And yeah, so I think it was the right move to not include the budgeting aspect. But I still am very into it. So I do I do sort of think about creating another blog just about budgeting, not necessarily food, but

Loren Runion
we’ll see. Right, because you I think I’ve seen on your stories, too, that you are completely debt free. Yes. Or it’s a huge passion of yours to continue to be on that path.

Nicolette
Yeah, yeah, I’m definitely a little bit crazy about it. I love it. And not many people like to talk about it. So if you if anybody likes talking about budgets, you can you can come into my Instagram DMS

Loren Runion
had your way. That’s awesome. And so do you feel like from the get go, this is kind of off topic, but from the get go just because I know that I’m awful with it. Are you really good about paying attention to your ins and outs of the blogging business from the beginning as far as keeping track of what you’re investing in? What’s going out? And what’s coming back in?

Nicolette
Yeah, like I do. I do have it all written down. I couldn’t like tell you off the top of my head any numbers? I’m not that. No,

Loren Runion
no, that is that’s good. Um,

Nicolette
yeah, I do. I do know the numbers.

Loren Runion
That’s very good. I have like an envelope stuffed full of things, you know, then I’m like, well, this might help if I ever get this organized.

Nicolette
Yeah, I think a surprising thing for me when I first created my blog is you know, how much of an investment it can be. You can certainly create a job or you can certainly create a blog on the cheap, but it’s not necessarily the easiest route to go.

Loren Runion
I agree. I agree. So let’s dive into that. So so when you started your blog, what are some of the things that you felt like you invested in right away say maybe the first let’s just start with the first three months the first quarter? What were some of the things that you felt like were the best investment to get you started off on the right foot?

Nicolette
Yeah, so I from the first thing I did was I signed up for food blogger Pro, I got a year membership for that and I think looking back that was probably the best thing that I could have done because I started off with a lot of quote unquote the right thing so I I started off on like a good framework. I started off on a good theme I started off with a good recipe card. I invested in a lot of those plugins like WP rocket shortpixel things like that to try and optimize my site from the beginning and I did a lot of that just because I had learned about it on through blogger pro But yeah, I invested in those things. And then I also I got kind of I got kind of into props early on, which is a black hole. But I do think like looking back that did help me because I don’t have I do have some some photos I’m not super proud of but I think they started off decent because of the property Because of the investment, right, because of the investment I did, I did invest in a DSLR camera from the start. And I partially did that, because I was trying to convince myself to take it seriously. And I thought, you know, if I’m going to be investing a chunk of money into this from the beginning, I’m going to do it right. And because I have so much skin in the game, I’m probably going to care a little bit more.

Loren Runion
It’s actually it’s a law, it’s a law, universal law of reciprocity. And it’s like, it’s true. Like if you invest in something, you’re more likely to invest in yourself and spend more time in it and and get that back. And it comes back to you. Obviously, as you’re seeing tenfold, you know, what you’re putting in, is going to come back. So that’s really awesome to hear some of the things that you invest in, and the food blogger Pro, I think that it is very important. For someone who’s starting out to start out with the right theme, like you mentioned, I know you and I both use the same theme. The I’m not gonna say their full name, right, but it’s feast designs company, right? I think so. Yeah. I foodie Pro.

Nicolette
I don’t remember all their exact terms. So I left it

Loren Runion
out. Yeah, it’s feast. It’s feast designs company. That sounds right. They’re, they’re very invested. I think it’s important to invest in companies that are invested in helping food bloggers, and that’s food blogger Pro, the feast designs company, like they are invested in helping you succeed, they aren’t just putting out plugins, or they’re not just putting out a theme, and they’re like, hear go with it. They’re sending out information like, weekly or monthly, you get an email that’s super helpful from all of those places. So it definitely sounds like you did an awesome job implementing those pieces. How much time would you say that you were spending when you first started out? Like, I don’t know that you said, I know that you said you’re still working. But how much time were you working? versus how much time were you putting into the blog.

Nicolette
So I, I’ve always spent a lot of time on the blog, I probably spend 40 hours a week working on the blog. And that’s partially because I really love it. It’s fun to me, it doesn’t feel like work. But it’s also partially because I’m just naturally an intense competitive person. I’m a I’m not, I don’t know if you’re into the enneagram. But I’m an enneagram eight, and I’m a Sagittarius. So I’m basically like the most intense person on the planet. And so I think it’s just like natural in me that I I really enjoy working. That’s something I struggle with is that I kind of have a hard time turning it off. But yeah, I’d say like, for the first, you know, year, it was at least 40 hours a week. And until last August, I was working full time. So it was a lot. I don’t have kids, and I didn’t have any pets then. So I really had a lot of free time aside from my full time job. But now I am just working part time for the law firm and and then I do my blog. The rest of the time.

Loren Runion
And you have a pet.

Nicolette
And I have a pet. Yes, I just got a puppy. And I greatly underestimated how much was made. Very, very underestimated it.

Loren Runion
Yeah, they are, like having a newborn. They really hard.

Nicolette
Yeah. I mean, people told me it was going to be hard. But I needed to experience it myself to really understand what they meant.

Loren Runion
Almost like a metaphor of starting a food blog. You’re like I can do this, right? And then you read that it’s hard and you’re like, I can do this. Like, Damn, this is hard.

Nicolette
When I first started my food blog, I was definitely very naive. And I didn’t understand exactly what I was getting myself into. Now, I’m very humbled. I understand food bloggers are some of the most hardworking people if, if you know a food blogger that is very successful, they work their tail off.

Loren Runion
I agree. I agree. I tell people or you know, I like to think of it as like I was a nurse prior to becoming a stay at home mom almost two years ago. And I worked. I worked as a nurse for 15 years. And a lot of the times I was in places like the ICU and I swear saving lives was easier than food blogging at times. Obviously, it’s a different intensity, and a different like level of importance. But like, there’s so much you have to know for blogging, that it’s like all encompassing, you know, when when you have something very specified like an ICU nurse, like there’s certain things you know, and like that’s it. You have to learn everything the doctor knows and everything that the radiologists knows, like you would for a food blog. So food bloggers, lots of hats, especially in the Yes. That is very true until you can start paying people That’s right. That is very good. So tell me about some of the things that you started doing as far as, like, do you practice good SEO practices? Is keyword research a part of your plan and getting you to success over the last year?

Nicolette
Yeah. So I, I have always been into the SEO side, I have always tried to abide by those rules. Even though it’s a little bit of a gray area, I think SEO is tough to figure out. I’ve tried to do it to the best of my ability. I didn’t do it very good. In the beginning, I still probably don’t do it very good. But I’m trying to do it, as well as I can. And keyword research. I didn’t know what that was for, I think my first 20 posts. And then I started to realize what that was. But I wasn’t targeting keywords that were specific to vegan recipes. And so I think, even though I was targeting recipes, because I was making them vegan, I was not answering, I was not providing the the Google user what they were looking for, if that makes sense. So it took me a while to fully understand how to use keyword research to my advantage and how to get the most out of it. But I think I’m getting there, I’m starting to target words that are specifically in my niche. And I’m I’m being pretty strategic about it. So I’m hoping that that’s going to help me moving forward. But I have always tried to do it well. And I do think that did help me a little bit because Google, organic traffic has always been my number one. I’m a little bit envious of people that do well on Pinterest, because that’s not my forte, but I am I am grateful to say that I’ve kind of always it appears to have been on Google’s good side. And so keyword research has sort of worked for me a little bit, I think, very good.

Loren Runion
I think that it sounds like it’s only going to continue to work and take you to that next level that you’re looking for. Do you use any keyword research tools? Or is there anything in particular that you have found helpful that you would like to share with the listeners? If they are just now diving into keyword research?

Nicolette
Yeah, I think it. It’s tough, because there’s so many different tools you can use. And I’ve tried a few of them, I found some of them very confusing, I can’t remember what they were called. But I’m currently using key search. And I find it to be probably the most accurate, and the most friendly on a user level.

Loren Runion
Very good. I totally agree with that. There’s been some that I signed up for. I just wasted the seven day free trial because I couldn’t even function inside of their program. But I also really like keyword research or the key search, and it’s very affordable. for everyone.

Nicolette
I agree. If I had tried using SEMrush, I had like a seven day or I had some sort of trial with sem rush. And I tried using their keyword research tool. And I had thought, you know, sem rush is very expensive subscription, their keyword research tool must be better than key search. And I’ve actually come to realize that that’s not true. There’s some sort of, I’m not sure exactly what they use to figure out the details and the analytics behind keywords. But apparently, the one that key searches using is a bit more reputable or accurate. So I guess that’s good to know, more expensive is not always better.

Loren Runion
That’s a very, that’s a very good point. And I bet that there’s a lot of people out there that aren’t investing in a keyword research tool, because they think that they need something like sem rush or I think I don’t know, if h refs, I know that there’s a lot of other bigger ones out there that are so expensive. And but it’s really beneficial to invest in that. And so the keys are just definitely something to look into. I agree. That’s very, very good advice. So if you were to tell someone to do maybe, like three things that you’ve learned over the year, or like the three most important things that you did over the last year, or more than three or less than three, whatever number feels good to you. Like what would you say to the person that is looking to start a food blog, maybe someone who’s been in it about six months, and they’re not seeing the success that they’d like to be seeing? And then also for someone who’s been in a year, you know, I’m at that year mark, so I’d love to hear. I’d love to hear your advice on like what you would tell someone You’re still reaching for that media vine goal that you have reached?

Nicolette
Yeah. So I think, let’s see, I think my first piece of advice would be to really figure out who you’re who you want to most serve. With your recipes. Who are you trying to reach is this a mom that is super busy only has 20 minutes every night to cook something? Is this someone that absolutely loves baking and wants the most intricate desserts, really figure out who you’re trying to reach in who you’re trying to help with your recipes. Because once you figure out who you’re talking to, and who you’re trying to help, it’s much easier to target them. Because if you don’t know who you’re trying to write recipes for, and you don’t know the type of person that you’re trying to attract to your to your blog, it’s going to be very difficult to attract that person because you don’t know who they are. And I think once you figure that out, and you figure out, Okay, I’m talking to busy moms, I probably shouldn’t make a three tier cake because mom doesn’t care about a three tier cake, she doesn’t have time for a three tier cake, or you know, something along those lines, really figure out who you’re talking to, because then it will help guide you to figure out what type of recipes you should be making, what type of recipes you should be looking for and keyword research. And that sort of thing. It really I think once I did that exercise for myself, and I really sat down, I was like, Who am I trying to talk to you here, who am I trying to help? It really helped me move forward and get specific with with what I was trying to do. And then I think my second piece of advice would be you know, it’s kind of hard to, to hear. But the sooner that you realize that your business and your your recipes that you’re writing are not for you. And it’s not about you, the sooner you’ll be successful, because the whole the whole purpose in in creating the recipes is to serve your audience. And you have to be giving them what they want. And it may not necessarily be what you want. Hopefully there’s some overlap. So it’s enjoyable, and it’s still fun and inspirational to create the recipes. But you have to you have to really realize that your business isn’t about you. It’s about who you’re trying to help. And so when I first when I started to figure out both those things for myself, I feel like I really started to gain traction with being consistent and attracting the right person to my blog. So yeah, I think those, I think that was two things. I think I need a third.

Loren Runion
You doesn’t have to be whatever number felt really good for you. And I think those are really awesome. To be honest, I think they’re very hard. Both of those things are very hard to accomplish. And I actually have like, I’d like to dive in a little more like, other people may may have heard of this concept Other people may have not. But some people suggest that you get as specific as like having an avatar and naming that avatar, like I am writing for Suzy and she’s 36 years old, and she’s a busy mom of three, and she just wants vegan food that I can she can put on the dinner table really fast. Like do you have something as specific as an avatar with a name,

Nicolette
I don’t have something as specific as an avatar with a name. But I do think I have gotten very specific in my mind about who I’m trying to help and who I’m trying to market my brand to. And I think about that every single time I’m going to make a recipe because if that recipe that I’m thinking of making doesn’t align with, you know, let’s say my person’s name is Susie, if it doesn’t align with Susie, you know, Susie doesn’t care. And so it’s a waste of my time. And it’s a waste of Susie’s time to spend making a recipe and so, um, yeah.

Loren Runion
Do you find that you try to translate who you’re writing for into things like your Instagram bio, and your bio on your blog and other places so that when they come there, they know that they’ve found a home? Or do you feel like you do that enough through your recipes?

Nicolette
I am. So I’m working on doing that on both those platforms on Instagram and on my blog. But I do kind of try and do that with every recipe that I create, and with every recipe that I post and I sort of do it. You know, I think about like how much time it’s going to take how many ingredients I’m using. I do try and stick to ingredients that are easier to find and less expensive. And then just the presentation because I think people really do eat with their eyes and so I Really think about how it’s coming across and, and what type of person would be attracted to what I am creating. And so I think I try and do it in all those ways. But

Loren Runion
Those are really good pieces of advice. Those are really good. And I got it like, I don’t think I’ve ever stepped back that far, and connected all those dots. Well, thank you to think, to think, okay, I’m creating this for this person, but is the picture for this, but like all of those things, like that’s, that’s very brilliant advice. So I hope that people are taking notes on that. So what do you think as like, this is kind of backtracking to where you said that you were you do, you did work 40 hours at your job, and you worked 40 hours on the blog. And right now you’d get to work part time? Did you find any ways to balance getting content out there? With working? Like, did you have a set schedule? Or did you kind of do things randomly? And with that, how often do you try and post? Or has it changed throughout the year?

Nicolette
Yeah, I know, that was a big question. When you had asked it on your Instagram, everybody wanted to know, you know, what your schedule is, how many, how many posts you have, and all those things. And I will be the first to admit that I am very bad at sticking to a schedule. It’s almost like the second I put it on a piece of paper, I can’t do it anymore. You know, edit editorial calendars, and planning in advance have never been my strong suit, I’ve sort of always just, you know, like, taking it day by day, which is not the best way to do it, I would not advise anyone to do it that way. I’ve just always been that way. And I wish I wasn’t. That way, I wish I was a little bit more organized. So yeah, I’m not the best, the best person to inspire you to stick to a schedule, to go back and look. And I had posted on average about eight recipes a month. But that was not on a schedule like that I took three months off completely. I didn’t post anything for three months. Some months, I posted a ton other months I posted once a week. I think in December, I posted twice, like I’m all over the map. I personally need some tips on how to stay organized. So

Loren Runion
That’s coming up. I think the takeaway from that is that everyoneis designed differently. And to go with your flow may be more beneficial for you than to try and be someone else when it comes to creating content. And so if you’re trying to box yourself into this person who’s organized and I have to stick to this editorial calendar, like you may be dampening your creativity, you may be dampening other pieces of that puzzle. and allowing yourself to just be who you are, and still be like you’re still being productive. Like you’re almost using what I like to call like intuitive action, like you’re doing it when you feel like you should be doing it. And you’re resting when you feel like you should be resting. And that’s working for that’s working for you. Because that is probably how you’re designed to be in your business.

Nicolette
Yes, that is true. I do think that there is some sort of benefit to doing it the way that I do, at least for me, because when I do make my recipes, and I do the photography and the writing is because I really want to. And I’m really inspired. And I’m I I don’t know I’m in the mood to do it, I guess you could say. So in that sense. It does work out for me, but it would be nice. I could see I mean, people always say the grass isn’t always greener. But sometimes I do think if I could just follow a frickin schedule. Be nice.

Loren Runion
I get that I get that sometimes when I do stick to a schedule. I’m like, Huh, like, Am I doing everything I’m supposed to be doing? Just like twiddling my thumbs because I stuck to the schedule. And I’m like, Well, this was easy.

Nicolette
But the thing that I love the most about the food blogging is like the creative side. And I think by creating a schedule and saying, Okay, today, you have to make a black bean burger. And then I wake up and I’m like, I don’t want to make a black bean burger. I wonder if the black bean burger would be as good if I, you know, force myself to do it. Right. So I think that I know. So maybe maybe this is just how I am. And I just think

Loren Runion
it is I totally believe it. And there’s people out there that like now I think there’s probably everyone can benefit from something a little different to improve their schedule. But I think as long as you’re moving towards your goals and moving like the needle on your business in the right direction, right? how you go about that the process can be messy as long as you’re reaching that version of success that you’re going after. And right, it sounds like you are.

Nicolette
Yeah, I think that’s like a really good thing for other people to hear that maybe in the same boat in that, you know, editorial calendars don’t work for them either. I think it just it, you can be successful, and you can produce good content and not stick to a schedule, I guess. So it’s comforting on both sides.

Loren Runion
I think that’s good for everyone to hear. That’s good. Yeah. So another thing that I want to dive into, I know, just because I know you personally, as Internet personally. over the year, you have invested, you have invested in your business. And not just like SEO, you know, things like the theme. But as far as like you, and I personally believe that investing in yourself, reaps major benefits. As far as what you’re going to receive back in your business. Can you talk about a couple of the things that you did to invest in yourself to make yourself better throughout this journey over the last year?

Nicolette
Yeah. So well, first and foremost, first and foremost, I went to part time with my quote, unquote, real job. And I think that did so much for me mentally, to clear up that time and space to just kind of take a second because when I was working full time and doing the blog full time, I really was not taking days off. And that is not sustainable. And so I invested in myself by taking a pay cut. And that was really great. I also had done, I had taken Sam from frosting and fettuccini mastermind. And I just finished that up, it was a 12 week course. And I learned so much in terms of how to mentally approach a business long term that I am, I’m so grateful that I did take that class, I learned so much, I think it’s given me a lot of peace in how I’m approaching my business. And I sort of have given myself permission to take time off to try to train my puppy, and I don’t feel guilty about it, which is huge for me. So that was one way I had invested. And then I also had a site audit with Casey Marquis, which I think anyone would tell you is super beneficial. It was a little bit overwhelming, it still is overwhelming. But it’s so nice to have a professional tell you what you’re doing right what you’re doing wrong and sort of provide you a roadmap of Okay, this is what you need to do to take it to the next level. So I think those three things were gold for me last year.

Loren Runion
That’s really awesome. And I I believe that it did, I think that I personally saw a huge shift in your confidence and like almost your joy through Instagram and like being able to take time off and feeling okay, and like, not necessarily feeling or being okay with not posting every day on Instagram, like just finding the permission to rest when you need to rest. So those are all really awesome things to learn. What would you say? If you had to look back over the last year like have you had, because I want this this podcast to be a place where people can come and really like help with their mindset and like the left and right brain sides of food blogging? Have you had any mindset, like setbacks throughout the year that you feel like you’ve had to overcome, that you think would be helpful for someone else to hear?

Nicolette
Yeah, so I, I’ve sort of always been this way with social media where social media get to a very unhealthy place very quickly. For me, I, I would consider myself to be fairly confident. But I think even for the most confident person, comparison can get tough because, like I said, I’m very competitive. And so when I’m on Instagram, and I’m seeing that, other bloggers that I look up to, and I’m inspired by are just like cranking recipes out like crazy. They all look beautiful. They’re doing all these things. It’s really hard to see that especially when you feel like you’re not keeping up with that level of work. And you’re not operating on a schedule and you sort of are just flying by the seat of your pants. It can get really hard and dark and so I think I made leaps and bounds last year when I realized you know, me being on Instagram for for a business presence really isn’t That important for me. And so I’m gonna, I essentially decided, you know, I’m going to stop posting every single day, I’m going to stop scrolling Instagram every single day, I am just really going to take a break from Instagram because it, it can be a lot to just be on there all the time. I do love the networking aspect of Instagram and that side of it. And I’ve met so many amazing people on Instagram, including you. So like, I don’t think I could ever get rid of Instagram just for that piece of it. But the rest of it is just so hard for me. And so last year, I just really gave myself permission to pretty much remove myself from the platform, I really don’t post much there. It’s not a huge part of my business, I don’t do a lot of work with brands, that’s not really my end game goal. And so I sort of just, I mean, it sounds cheesy, but it’s like the most freeing thing to just stay in your own lane not know what other people are doing and not compare where you are in your journey to somebody else. Because nobody is this Nope, you can’t compare anybody. Everybody is different.

Loren Runion
You’re right, absolutely right. And in the end, like if you’re following someone else’s life, you’re in someone else’s lane, you’re gonna get to the end of your life, and like they met their goals, and you’re gonna look back and be like, well, that’s not what I wanted. That was not at all what I wanted at the end of my journey, right? So I think that is beautiful advice. And, and to realize like, if to take a step back and to analyze his Instagram a piece of my like, like, what you’re saying is, is this a piece of my business puzzle that needs to grow? Or is this something else, you know, is this just kind of like a benefit of having the business I’m in for me, I’m kind of the same. I feel every word that you said I’d like rings true to my soul as far as all of the issues that it can cause and the feelings and the darkness like darkness was a very good word for what I feel Instagram can do, probably to everyone if they’re being honest with themselves. And the benefit as far as like getting people to come to your blog from that I was actually did last month, I think I had 30 people from Instagram. Yeah, that’s your my site like, oh, whoo.

Nicolette
Yeah, that’s another thing. It’s like you really need to, I guess this could be my third thing, going back to the three things is that you really need to decide what your business model is, is your main goal to grow your blog to get onto an ad network and make a majority of your income from ads? Or is your is your goal to do a lot of sponsored work and become a really good professional food photographer, you really have to sit down and ask yourself those questions. Because if your goal is primarily to, you know, get onto an ad network and make a more passive form of income, being on Instagram really is very important for you because Instagram is notoriously a pretty bad conversion to pageviews and to website traffic. And so it’s just not a good use of time. If it’s one causing you, you know, emotional turmoil. And two, it’s not really part of your part of your business. You know, it’s not really where your business is growing.

Loren Runion
Exactly. That’s exactly right. Yeah. Oh, Nicolette, this has been such a great episode. Is there anything else that you would like to share with the listeners? As far as like anything we left out or anything that you felt was really important for your journey over the last year that you’d like to share? Well,

Nicolette
I think we could this could be a completely different episode, but I think we could talk about web stories. Um, I did have some pretty significant success with web stories in quarter four. And I do plan on putting out a resource for other food bloggers to use and hopefully have some success with web stories. So maybe we can link to that in the show notes.

Loren Runion
Yes, that will be awesome. So so for reference, Nicolette is talking about the Google Web stories. And it’s something that’s been around for a while, I think it used to be called, like ANP stories, or maybe it was called amp, I don’t really know. And now they’ve, they’ve kind of upped the ante and they’re trying to compete with other types of stories like that you see in Pinterest or an Instagram and now there is a an easier way to use these stories, and you can have a plugin for it. And there have people like Nicolette who are having great success, and so I’m super excited for her to get this resource out super stat. I can start using it. And I definitely agree with that. Getting into those and jumping on that train, even if it’s just for practice, even if it’s just for you know, I don’t just getting more Eyes on your site. Yeah, there’s no harm in creating web stories. Yes, definitely. And so tell everybody where they can find you if they would like to reach out.

Nicolette
Yeah, you can find me on Instagram. I’m still on Instagram. I do check it and I respond to people. I’m just not on there as much. But you can always find me on Instagram. I’m on Facebook. And you can always email me as well.

Loren Runion
And then what’s your website?

Nicolette
Oh, my website homecookedroots.com.

Loren Runion
Great. Perfect. Nicolette, thank you so much for being here. I appreciate you so much for being my first guest and for sharing all of the information that you did with us today. And good luck growing your business to the next level.

Nicolette
Thank you so much for having me.

Loren Runion
Thank you so much for tuning in to another episode of Mind Over blog podcast. Don’t forget, if you love this episode to leave us a review, and then tag me on Instagram, at mind of our blog. Share it and your stories. I’d love to know what you like the most about this episode. Until the next time. Have a great day.

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