Monetizing Your Food Blog with Kayla Burton
In this episode, we’re excited to chat with Kayla Burton, the creator of the food blog Broken Oven Baking Company and a coach for food bloggers. Kayla’s journey from newbie blogger to coach offers wisdom and inspiration for anyone looking to grow and monetize their food blog. Here’s what you can learn from Kayla to take your food blog to the next level.
Find the Right Tools and Resources
One of the key things Kayla emphasizes is the importance of having the right tools in place. Early on, she switched to a reliable host and an optimized theme, both of which made a big difference in her blog’s success.
She recommends Big Scoots for hosting, which is built to support SEO and user experience. This can set up your blog for long-term success.
Build Connections with Your Audience
Kayla saw that other bloggers had questions and began helping them out by answering queries and providing advice. Over time, this led her to start coaching other food bloggers and providing audits for their sites.
Her passion for helping others is what launched her coaching business. Building a community around your blog and offering value to others can open up new doors!
Don’t Overthink Niching Down
When it comes to niching down, Kayla’s says to do what you’re passionate about and it will shine through your content. If you’re excited about what you’re creating, your audience will be excited about it, too.
Take Baby Steps with Technology
Blogging can be overwhelming, especially if you’re learning something new like SEO or how to set up your website. Kayla’s advice to new bloggers is to take things one step at a time and not be afraid to experiment. With a good hosting company and theme, you have the flexibility to play around without fear of breaking your site.
Is SEO Still Important in 2024?
With several Google updates making it tougher for bloggers, Kayla says that while SEO and keyword research are still important, it doesn’t need to carry as much weight as some people give it.
Yes, use keyword research, but focus on creating content on your food blog that resonates with your audience. That will ultimately drive more engagement than focusing only on what Google likes.
Connecting with Your Audience: Feedback is Key
An important piece of blogging success is connecting with your audience and getting feedback on what you’re creating for your food blog. Kayla does this primarily through Instagram and her email newsletter.
She engages her followers by asking for their input on new recipe ideas through Instagram polls and even sends out surveys to her email subscribers, and offers giveaways as incentives to participate.
Monetizing Your Blog with Brand Partnerships & Ads
Kayla started sharing her baking creations on Instagram in January 2020, and brands soon started reaching out to her about partnerships. This eventually allowed her to quit her corporate 9-to-5 job and focus full-time on her blog and brand partnerships. This was after she saved up a few months of expenses to have a fall-back.
Building a Content Schedule: Quality Over Quantity
If you’re wondering how often to post, Kayla recommends focusing on quality over quantity, especially in the beginning. Figure out what you can accomplish in a week and be consistent with that. Kayla also suggests tracking your progress. Make note of what works and what doesn’t, and set realistic goals for yourself.
Kayla’s Advice for New Food Bloggers
Don’t Wait to Start Monetizing: So often, we think we have to be at a certain point in our business to start monetizing, but really, you can get started reaching out to brands and creating partnerships as early as you want.
Reach Out to Brands Early: Kayla recommends you reach out to brands, introduce yourself, and try to establish a good relationship with the brand and see how you can each benefit each other. Don’t be afraid – just go for it!
Create Other Revenue Streams: In addition to brand work, food bloggers can sell digital products like eBooks, cooking classes (both online and in-person), and freelance work for food brands. They can also start a YouTube channel as a creative revenue stream.
Jump Into Photography: Many food bloggers are intimidated by food photography, but Kayla says to just keep practicing. You don’t need a fancy camera, especially these days – she says an iPhone can work wonders.
The Power of Community and Continuous Learning
We agree with Kayla that building and engaging with a supportive community of fellow bloggers and readers is so important to sustaining a blog. Blogging is a lot about learning – repeatedly learning, no matter how long you’ve been blogging.
In this episode, we covered:
- Kayla’s journey of growing and monetizing her food blog and coaching business
- How the right hosting platform can set you up for success
- What to do if you’re overwhelmed with technology as a new blogger
- How Kayla gets feedback from her audience
- How Kayla got brand partnerships as a new food blogger
- What creative revenue streams a food blogger can use to monetize
- How Kayla grew her blog enough to quit her 9-to-5 job
- Why community and continuous learning are so important for any blogger
- Kayla’s best advice for food bloggers who are just starting out
Links and resources mentioned in this episode:
- Visit Kayla’s food blog Broken Oven Baking
- Learn more about Kayla’s food blogging resources
- Kayla’s New Recipe Post Checklist
- Kayla’s Photo Guide
- BigScoots: Managed WordPress Hosting
- Choose your perfect niche for your audience for FREE
- Learn how to create and sell your first digital product for FREE
- Sign up for our newsletter
- Check out last week’s episode
We loved chatting with Kayla about her journey of monetizing her food blog! What did you think of this episode? Send us a DM over on Instagram: @sparkmediaconcepts and let us know!