Food Blogging is a lot of work, but it is worth every second of it.
Hello, first of all, I hope that you had a wonderful holiday, and a happy new year 2018! Also, I want to say a big Thank You to everyone who has taken the time and interest in visiting this blog.
On October 6, 2016, I published my first blog post, you can check it out here, for this food blog, and that was when the food blog journey began.
This thirteen months food blogging has been a roller coaster ride, many things to learn. I feel that it was a great idea to start this blog, it has shown me that I enjoy creating content. When I started this blog, I was thinking about it as a hobby. Now I feel it can be so much more.
What I Have Learned from food blogging in 2017:
1. It takes time and a lot!
Food Blogging takes time, at first I didn’t figure it out. Recipe testing, recipe photos, recipe writing, photo editing and the list goes on. But it is gratifying once you published your post on your blog.
2. You will improve every step of the way
Growth in my website visits started with a couple, and now I have between 30 and 50 daily views, which is excellent I see improvements. Last month I got to 1.7k monthly views. I know there is still a long way to get to, but I fell I’m on the right path.
3. Consistency is vital and challenging at the same time
I struggle a lot with this one and work. Getting the habit, writing, cooking, recipe testing and photographing. A lot to review. However, it has been great. I’m trying to become more organized. Also started working on an editorial calendar, so it is easier to organize my time. Working ahead helps a lot too, so you can schedule your next post and continue the following week.
4. Content quality is important
Doing the research, testing out recipes, trying to solve your reader’s problems are part of the journey to high-quality content. It also takes time to make content. Content Quality is King.
5. Food Photography is challenging, but practice makes a difference + Mastering photo editing skills.
Mastering light is the most critical part of the food photography. I’m not yet in a “perfect” place, but I have improved a lot. Proof of that is that Foodgawker has accepted the majority of my food photos Yay! 🙌 🎉Editing is another story, but after reading a couple of books, I think I’m getting there.
See my photos below, the first two were taken with my cellphone and artificial lighting, not my favorite but they are my stuffed salmon fillets with spinach and cream cheese. I’m planning the update for these.
And these other two below are recent ones taken with natural light and my DSLR, a mushroom cauliflower rice, and pork chorizo fried rice.
6. You will always learn new things every day
From day one I bought my domain, I started learning new stuff. It has been a long road. Food Photography, Flavor Pairing for recipe development, plugins? What is that! Oh, you need it for your website.
7. Never Compare yourself to another blogger
Comparing yourself to other bloggers is difficult, it is easy just to think that you would not get to for instance 10K monthly views! But everything takes time, and every blogging journey is different. Just stick to what you are doing, and you will see progress.
8. Beginning a blog of one is challenging but rewarding
Being a band of one for a blog is hard, a lot of things to keep into consideration to do. I have created a small checklist to make sure I have everything ready to publish. I still miss a couple of things. No one is perfect hahaha.
9. Handling social media, it never ends
Managing social media had been my nightmare. I created the social media profiles and started posting on them like almost six months into blogging. I had to learn about social media schedulers creating pins, graphics. Creating captions! I still need to work on a social media strategy to get a significant following and engagement. I will eventually get there.🤞 hahaha
10. Getting your name out there can be scary
I think of myself as a shy person; I usually don’t like speaking in public. For me, blogging is something like that. It has helped me feel better about myself and more comfortable talking in front of a crowd, so I see it as an improvement!
11. Feeling discouraged will happen
I felt terrible when I had almost four months in which I couldn’t post anything new, I felt so discouraged and thought about quitting. But after reading readers comments, testing out new recipes and taking photos of food; I removed that feeling and kept on going.
12. Don’t strive for perfection
Looking for perfection was me my first two months of food blogging, I wanted everything to be perfect, or at least my idea of perfect. My boyfriend was always there to give me my reality check and always encouraged me to continue and don’t be so hard on myself. Eventually, I would get better he regularly said. And he was right, I feel I’m getting better, and there is still room for improvement.
13. Be yourself
You should always show yourself as your real you; this will help you connect with your audience.
14. Defining your niche can take time
Deciding what your niche would be about, is something I have seen every place I go related to blogging in general. I’m still working on identifying that “special” niche in the food blogging world, but I know I eventually will get there I’m in no rush.
15. Writing in three languages is challenging
I decided to start my blog, and I wanted it to be multilingual because that way people that didn’t read English and knew Spanish could read it as well. But I wanted to add another language because I enjoyed so much learning Portuguese that I didn’t want to lose if I didn’t practice. To be honest, it has been time-consuming, but it has helped me practice. This new year I will see if I can continue writing in the three languages or not.
16. Get organized and Plan Ahead
I’m going to tell you a secret, I’m a procrastinator,🙈 I’m not proud of it, but it happens from time to time. So I need to be organized and try to plan things to make things happen at the specific time. When I feel inspired, I try to write; this helps me make a habit of writing it will help when you get into a slump. Also helps with planning.
17. Get to know other bloggers
The food blogging community is great, mostly because everybody loves to help out. I’m part of a couple of Facebook groups that are very supportive. It is a great way to make a network. 😊
18. You can become a food props collector
I have a small apartment, so I don’t have enough space to have a lot of props. But it is hard to go to a home store and don’t bring any glass or plate back home. I’m guilty of that. Also, I don’t have a bunch of backdrops because of space constraints. I want to have a couple more, but I will have to think about it.
I hope you have enjoyed this different blog post, let me know if you liked it. And Happy Blogging to all of you that have a blog, and for those who haven’t started yet try it out! I’m sure you would enjoy it. Don’t worry next week there would be a new recipe post, so stay tuned. Do you have a blog? Let me know in the comments below.
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