The Ultimate Blog Podcast - 10. Chelsea Cole on Income Streams as a Blogger

Episode Date: February 22, 2022

Hey there! On today’s episode, we are chatting with Chelsea Cole from the blog, A Duck’s Oven. This is such a great episode and so inspiring to hear how Chelsea went from starting blogging to different careers and how her journey led her back to blogging and now blogging full-time. We talk about niching down, Chelsea’s income streams and how there are always a lot of different ways to make money, serving others through your products/blog, where to start when first starting out as a blogger trying to make money, and how to figure out where to focus your time and energy.This is definitely an episode that has a lot of good information and so helpful to hear other’s journeys. Tune in to hear Chelsea’s inspiring story!Let us know what you thought of this episode on Instagram: @sparkmediaconcepts Interested in starting a blog? Join our waitlist for the Ultimate Blog Bootcamp! SHOW NOTES: www.sparkmediaconcepts.com/episode10

Welcome to the Ultimate Blog Podcast with Amy Reinecke and Jennifer Draper. We're on a mission to empower women who want to start or grow their own blog. This podcast is for women who want to learn blogging basics and who crave inspiration and encouragement. Whether you're just getting started or have been a blogger for years, we're excited to welcome you into this space where we are passionate about creating community over competition. We are bloggers who want to encourage you to believe in your potential, step outside the norm, and step into a life where you create your own schedule, your own success, and your own story. Join us for weekly episodes as we navigate blogging

and work from home life, all while raising a family and having some serious fun along the way. all while raising a family and having some serious fun along the way. Hey everybody, and welcome back to this week's episode. Today we have Chelsea Cole from the blog A Duck's Oven. And I first came across Chelsea's Instagram account several months ago, and she was promoting her course, The Cookbook Lab. And I've always had an interest in someday creating a cookbook. So I jumped right in and started taking her course. And I, of course, followed her on Instagram. She started sharing lots of great blogging tips and behind the scenes about her journey as a blogger. And so I just knew that we had to connect with her and have her on the podcast today to tell you guys a little bit about herself and her blog. So welcome Chelsea. Thank you. I'm so excited to be here. I love

chatting blogging. So this is going to be fun. Yeah, we have lots to talk about today. So let's just jump right in. So we were reading a little bit more about you and you said you first started blogging when you were in college. So I think that's a little bit unusual for a lot of people. They usually kind of start later on down the road. So we would love for you to tell us a little bit more about why you started blogging, who kind of gave you that idea and what was your intention when you first started that blog? Yeah. So this will definitely date me. This was a very long time ago. It was in 2010. So I was a sophomore at the University of Oregon, which is the origin of my blog's name. The mascot is the Oregon Ducks. My then boyfriend, now husband actually named my blog. So it was a play on Dutch oven at the time. And so when I first started, it was mostly just

like I was in a kit that had my own kitchen for the first time before that, like in high school and stuff, I was not interested in cooking. Not, you know, occasionally did like a box of brownies and scrambled eggs, but that was the extent of my cooking ability. But when I was faced with like providing for myself, often cooking for my boyfriend too, we were high school sweethearts. So, uh, you know, he was along for the ride that whole time. You know, I found that I actually really enjoyed cooking. Like I would get home, I worked all through college and I would get home, I worked all through college, and I would get home from a long day of classes and work and go to cook dinner. And instead of it being this chore, I found I actually... It was a great creative outlet for me, a really nice way

to wind down from the day. And I liked it. And so I started experimenting more and more with cooking. And at the time, I started a blog on on blog spot, which I don't even know if a lot of people will know what that is and just wanted to share kind of what I was learning and like the different things I was tinkering with. I had, I didn't expect people to really read it beyond like other college students maybe. And then like my family and friends. And so it was just a way for me to kind of share what I was doing. Like it was, it was funny. I stumbled across a blog post from that early time period recently where I was making banana bread and I was like, you guys, there's the weirdest ingredient in this banana bread,

but I promise it works. It's sour cream. Can you believe they're sour cream? And of course now that like, of course they're sour cream and banana bread, but I had no idea what I was doing back then. So yeah. So it was just my way of kind of chronicling that journey. And I just fell more and more in love with cooking. I'm so glad I did it because at the time I was planning on becoming an elementary school teacher. I worked in the

brain development lab at U of O as a behavioral research assistant. And my first job out of college was actually managing the behavioral lab at the brain development lab. And then I was like, nope, food is my thing. This is, this is where I'm going. So, so grateful for my blog. I can watch you figure that out so quickly, instead of like spending a lot of time going down a road that wasn't going to bring you a lot of joy. I did accounting for 13 years before I finally figured it out. I wanted to be a blogger. It is. It's such a crazy journey because even then, young and naive, I graduated college pretty early. I was 20 when I graduated. So I took that job right out of college

as a behavioral lab manager. And I was like, but you know what? Since I love cooking and I love food, that must mean I want to open a restaurant. So I was pretty entrepreneurial from a young age too. So then my next thing was like, okay, my husband got a job that brought us back to Portland, which is where we live now. And so we decided to move to Portland together. And I was like, okay, in this move, I'm going to get a job in the restaurant so I can learn the ropes. And luckily I actually got hired as an assistant manager with no restaurant experience pretty quickly and then quickly learned I hated it and that running a restaurant was not for me. So I was glad I kind of got through that journey. Eventually it led

me to marketing and then eventually full-time blogging, but I have been blogging in that interim tie. So for over 11 years, you know, only full-time as of a year ago though. Oh, wow. So you've only been full-time for a year. So you were in marketing up until that point. Oh, wow. So you've only been full time for a year. So you were in marketing up until that point. Yep. So you, so you started your blog in 2010. Is that correct? So then you went full time in 2020 or 2021. So that just shows like, it takes some time for that leap of faith to happen. You know, and I think that's so important for, for people to understand is that it's a long game. You know, we tell our students that a lot and that you just stuck with it. You know, that's really awesome. I'm glad that you mentioned that.

Yeah. It's, I was very afraid of quitting my day job for a really long time. And so for a really long time, I've also been freelancing since 2014. So working full-time freelancing and blogging. And for a really long time, I was working really, really hard. I don't have children. So, you know, that helps. And then finally a year ago, just kind of the stars aligned enough for me to feel safe. Admittedly, I probably could have done this sooner, but I just, I was very risk averse. Yeah. I think a lot of people are, because you really are betting on yourself. Totally. Are you glad you did it though now? A thousand percent. And one thing, I did a big deep dive with my email, my food blogger email

list recently, just kind of reflecting on my first year of being self-employed. And I say in there, I am not making as much money as I was in my last job, like a ways off still. I'm making enough for us to pay our bills and to save a little bit. It's not what I want to be making. I'm still glad I made that choice. And I can see a path towards making that much money again. And I know how I'll get there, but I like to be honest about that. It's been a change, still glad I did it. That's awesome. I think when you kind of take that piece out of it, yes, of course we need money. It makes the world go round, but there is something to be said for doing something that really brings you a lot of joy as well. I know Jennifer and I both love what we do. We love blogging. We love helping other people blog. And there's something to be said

for waking up in the morning and being truly passionate about what you get to do that day, instead of like punching a time clock for something that you hate to do. And also you said, I know how I need to get there and what I need to do. So it sounds like you have a great path ahead, which is great as well. Yeah, totally. A little bit more about what your blog is about. Yeah. So, you know, when my blog first started, it was very much, I'm a college student playing around, you know, I'm very guilty of what everybody complains about in terms of like storytelling before the blog posts. But back in those days, the big food blogger was like the pioneer woman, Reed Drummond. And that's what she did. And I loved it and read her blog every day. And the vibes were much different back then. And so back then it was kind of a mishmash of

whatever I felt like. And however, I will say this, there is one blog post, this drives me nuts. I'm working on changing this. There's one blog post currently that accounts for 40% of my blog's total traffic. That blog post was a blog post from my first year of blogging. And it's about how to make a can of tomato soup taste better. So if you Google Campbell's tomato soup, I am on the first page, which is like wild. And so I'm grateful for those early years. That's amazing. That's, I think a lot of bloggers are in that situation where, you know, when you really start diving into it, like one of those blog posts is like your like bread and butter. Oh, it's so annoying. I hate it. But, and then like, you know, so for a while it was like general stuff. My husband and I spent a year living in

Cape town, South Africa while he was getting his master's degree in politics. And during that time, I shared a little bit more travel-y stuff. And so for most of that time, it was just kind of a reflection of whatever was going on in my life. It was still all cooking and recipes and food for the most part, but there wasn't a lot of direction. And then in 2016 or 17, my mom got me an immersion circulator for my birthday, which is the tool you need for sous vide cooking. And I got super into sous vide super quickly, like totally fell in love with it and saw a big gap. Sous vide still less so still luckily, but still, and especially then was like a guy gadget and it was for food nerds. And like, there weren't a lot of resources for home cooks, especially for women

using this. It was more like guys doing weird experiments in their garages. And so I was like, that is going to be me. I'm going to fill that hole in the marketplace. That's when I self-published my first cookbook about sous vide cooking. And now my niche is like thoroughly sous vide cooking. And then I just published my second cookbook about sous vide cooking. It's specifically sous vide meal prep, because again, I'm really talking to home cooks last summer. So yeah, so now it's, now it's a sous vide blog. So you never know what things will, where things will shake out. Yeah. And I think that's such an important lesson for somebody who's just starting out blogging. You may not really know exactly where this is going

to take you, but just have that open mind and be looking for the gaps that you can fill. What are people asking for? What are people looking for? And that may just be something that you didn't even know you would enjoy. Like with the sous vide cooking, I agree. Like I didn't know that much about it before I actually bought a machine based on what you've shared on your blog and I've been playing around with it. And so I do think you've been smart to look for an area where there's so much growth potential and it's also something that you really enjoy doing. Yeah. It honestly changed the game for me. It's what made me feel like I had direction. It made my blog feel more professional. It made me be able to be known for something. And also I love, and also I love it. Like it's so fun. And

anytime I can like help somebody get into sous vide, like somebody will DM me and be like, Chelsea, I just got a circulator. What should I do now? And I'm like, let's do it. I'm so excited. So it's, it's awesome. Does that help you to also like figure out what kind of content to create? Does it make it easier like to come up with your next blog post idea now that you have such a specific topic? Absolutely. One thing I'm starting, I'm pivoting towards, I've been saying this for months. I just need to carve out the time to make this happen. I have an intro course for sous vide cooking called Sous Vide School. It's really affordable. I wanted it to be super accessible for people who want to get started with sous vide cooking. It's 24 bucks, walks you

from like very, very, very beginner to like more experimental fun stuff. And so one thing I'm hoping to do this year, I've in the past year taken keyword research and SEO more seriously than I ever, ever have. And so I'm really pivoting away from like posting whatever I feel like more towards strategic posting on my blog and what I'm doing with things that are like just fun and aren't necessarily going to result in a lot of traction on my blog. I'm going to be working on making those exclusive recipes for my sous vide school students and pivoting that into a membership. So yes, it makes things way easier because it's just like building out my blog to be this like super robust source of sous vide education.

And then for like fun stuff, when they like want to experiment alongside me and all that stuff, they can join sous vide school for that. That's awesome that you can see two things. One that you can see how, when you niche down, it's actually not a bad thing. I think that that's something that's super scary for a lot of people to say, okay, I'm going to niche down to this one topic and they're afraid they're going to run out of ideas. But I just listened to you speak about how you can have this core idea and then turn it into not only like a lot of content, but a lot of different streams of revenue as well with your course and then a membership. And it's something that is adding value to somebody's life because I haven't ever done anything then a membership. And it's something that is adding value to

somebody's life because I haven't ever done anything to be before. And so I would clearly need somebody to hold my hand through the process. Should I start to do that? And I think it can be a really, it can feel kind of intimidating to learn this specific thing. So it's interesting how you found this, this specific niche that doesn't have a lot of guidance around it. And then you're teaching other people how to do it, which people are going to find extremely valuable. Yeah. And I think like something super important that you just said about like niching down after I wrote my first cookbook, I like, I, I didn't write that book thinking this is me niching down. I'm embracing this bulb. I wrote it cause I was excited about it. And then I realized what I had done,

like that I had adopted that as my niche. And at first I was like upset about it. And I was like, I didn't mean to pigeonhole myself. Like, I don't want to just be known for this. And then, and then like, it took me a few months to realize that that was a very good thing and I should just embrace it. So yes, totally what you just said. It can feel wrong and scary and like you're limiting yourself and it doesn't have to. Like, for example, I am building out on my blog right now, like different areas, like content buckets, essentially that are like side dishes for all these sous vide mains they might be making.

And a lot of it's not even sous vide and like a lot of sauces and stuff like that. So I'm still like not just doing sous vide, but it essentially all revolves around that. Well, yeah, it's still serving a purpose for all of the people who are making those recipes and how you can continually serve them. Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

So if we rewind a little bit before you really started looking at this niching down, did you think this is a way blogging is a way that I could actually make some money? At what point did you realize that you wanted to write the cookbook and you wanted to take this a little bit more seriously? And what was your intention? What were you thinking would happen when you started down that road? when you started down that road? I think that there were like so many times throughout my life where I thought about taking it more seriously and then just dove back into my job instead and like, kind of like vacillated in and out, you know, I realized so in 2014, when we moved to Cape town, that was the first time I started freelancing and I was writing like super SEO

friendly blog posts for another blog during that time. And so that's when I kind of realized that like my blog skills were marketable skills. And so when I got home from South Africa, that's when I was like, I'm going to start, I'm going to get a job in marketing. Like I really like this. I realized that so many aspects of like blogging that I liked were around marketing. And so I kind of, I got home, went back to work for that restaurant group I was working at before, but I was like helped with some marketing and was like a floater, like fill-in manager for restaurants and then found a full-time job marketing, doing the digital marketing for a seafood startup. So one thing that was great about

my whole marketing journey is I worked like, oh gosh, three different full-time jobs in marketing. All were food related. And my most recent one was I was the director of marketing for a sous vide company. So it was like very fitting. So, you know, and all, all of those full-time job experiences really, which I mean, this sounds like so cliche, but it's cliche because it's true. They, they made me a better blogger. Like I am a much better blogger because I know how to be a good marketer. So I'm really grateful for that. So I would say like, so after I left my seafood startup job, I went to the restaurant group I had worked for for so many years, hired me as their marketing manager. And that was a technically part-time job. However, I worked like

I had one day off a week. So that was when, yeah. So part-time is like a stretch or I'm sorry. I had one extra day off a week. So I worked, I had Friday, Saturday, Sunday off. And that was when I'm like, okay, this is going to be like my transition time. I'm going to start building up the freelancing, start building up the blog and like, see, see if I can get to a point where I feel like I can make the pivot. I felt like for a really long time, I felt like blog ads were super out of reach. And I just like, that felt mysterious. It felt really out of my control because I didn't understand SEO very well. And so that did not feel reliable to me. And my thing was like, I want a few reliable sources of income before I do this. And then in spring of 2020, I like managed to hit the sweet spot that spring, because as we all know, when COVID first happened,

I, we, our blog traffic went up because everybody was at home cooking. And so my blog traffic went up. I, at the time, this was right before Mediavine switched their qualifications to 50K. So I hit the 25K mark, applied and got in, and then they switched to 50K. So my timing was beautiful. So I was like, okay, got an income coming in from these blog ads now. And that's when I was feeling... I had freelance clients that I had been working with for years. And then I was like, okay, I see how this is a business and felt like I could actually take it to the next level at that point. And I realized too, how, you know, that's the thing with like multiple income streams. I know that all of the things that make me a good food blogger make me

good at other things. And I can leverage that elsewhere as needed and kind of like flex and give in different arms of my businesses as I need to. Yeah. So when you're, when you say you were freelancing, what kind of work were you doing? Yeah. So it was, it was all like very fortuitous. So when I, this, this is one of the things I like to tell people about cookbooks. You don't make very much money from publishing a cookbook. The only people who make lots of money are like Ina Garten. That's it. It helps you in a thousand other ways. So when I first published my first cookbook, I was doing open houses at a local kitchen supply store. So I had a booth there, I would do samples. And at one of their open houses, they put me up next to a sous vide device,

their table. And I was talking with the woman who was doing the tabling for them. And she's like, we need a freelancer to do recipe development for us. Are you available? I'm like, heck yeah, I am. Let's do this. And so that was one of my first freelancing jobs there. Before that I was doing photography and social media work for a local furniture store, which was like not quite my thing, but it's fine. And I briefly did marketing consulting for people who like wanted to start their own businesses and couldn't afford to hire out. So I'd be like, Hey, you hire me. I'm going to train you how to do your own social media and photography, and then let you kind of do your thing. So those were other things that I did before that too. But then as of recently, when I felt good to quit my job, it was recipe development

and food photography for other people. And then from the sous vide company, their PR team got wind of me and they were like, Hey, can we use you for some of our other clients? And so I have one client through that connection that I've had since 2018 and still do work for. And so that kind of just like spiraled out. And then that sous beat company hired me full-time as their marketing director eventually. So yeah. That's awesome. I love hearing all these different stories about how just little bits and pieces here. There's a lot of times as a blogger, you're like, okay, so where, where am I going to make money this month? You know, honestly, like, especially like in the beginning, you're like, where's it coming from? And you just like so beautifully shared.

You don't ever really know. And like, that was the mindset shift I had, which I don't like that phrase, but whatever I had to have in order to go full time. Like, cause for me, I'm risk averse. I understand what a career looks like. And so for blogging, I'm like, I don't know what the blogging landscape is going to look like in two years. I don't know what I'm going to feel like doing in two years. And just like, and knowing that's going to be the case and knowing that's never been

a problem for me in the past, like I'm going to figure it out. I'm going to pivot how I need to, and it's going to be fine, which is like terrifying. But I think like also experiencing that for, you know, seven years, like when I, in terms of the freelancing period before I went full-time was really helpful for me to just know that I, I had the capabilities to figure it out. And I think that's the fun part too, is that it's literally always changing. Like there's always new opportunities that are presenting themselves that make it exciting. Like I'm never bored. Yeah, same.

So how have you decided going forward, like besides freelancing, what other kinds of things are you adding to kind of round out that income stream so that you can create the income and the life that you want as a full-time blogger? How did you come up with other ideas and how consistent is that? Are you changing those as you test things out and see if they work? What does that look like for you? Yeah. So I knew I wanted like in my head when I was going full-time with this, I was like, I want a few things that just feel like pretty much a certainty. And so one of those for me was like, once my blog traffic kicked up and got pretty steady, it wasn't, it's my blog traffic alone is not enough for me to live off full time, but it's like a pillar and it's a pretty steady, reliable pillar. So that for me,

like knowing that was there felt good. And then I, my dad is owns his own business and is retiring. And he is, my brother and I are taking over his business and that takes probably it's, is my brother and I are taking over his business. And that takes probably it's, it's not a lot of my time. It takes probably 10 hours a month of my time. So I have, which again, that pillar by itself, not enough for me to live off of, because this is a very slow transition at this point, we're just like helpers in the business. So that is another thing that's like, at least consistent, I pretty much know what that income is going to look like every single month. So I want, I, I had those two. And for me, what, like, I don't know if this will, I think this will resonate and make sense, but we'll see. One thing I really struggled with for a while is like not understanding my business, like knowing it was bringing in money, but like not understanding

what it was not like not being able to see a future for it, not seeing how it worked very well in like a big picture way. Once I defined and outlined my income streams, it was like immediate clarity. Like I needed that to be the case. And so you can kind of, you can define them however you want to. For me, it's blog ads, freelance work, work I do for my dad, sponsored posts, digital products I create, cookbooks, and then occasionally other stuff. So for example, my friend Kate and I just launched an Airtable Summit for food bloggers, which is going to be like a one-day event. So that's something I would call other that's going to be a source of income for me. Occasionally I'll do like in-person cooking classes. That's another, other form of income for me. And so in total, that's like

kind of seven to eight. Oh, and then affiliate income too. Seven to eight streams of income. And I've got those all defined and I do my own bookkeeping with like QuickBooks. And so I have those all marked as tags in my bookkeeping system. And I tag every expense, every check as one of those pieces of income. And every single month I go in and look like, okay, what were my revenue streams like? And those are going to fluctuate pretty wildly, especially quarter to quarter is one thing I found. Obviously blog ads drop off in Q2. And that's when I ramp up my digital products and stuff like that. So that was really helpful for me to see. And digital products. So for me, that's the cookbook

lab. That's sous vide school. I sell my air table templates. And then just other things that I think of. For me, it's like, I have a lot of people who ask me questions about a thing. I see how I can't for me. It's like, if I have a lot of people who ask me questions about a thing, I see how I can make a product for it. And I've actually got two other products coming out this year. I'm doing like, I did a goal setting workshop this past winter and I'm making that an evergreen version. And then I'm also working on like a DIY branding kit for food bloggers and blah, blah, blah. Anyways. So yes, lots of income streams. That's awesome though. I love how you just said that when people ask you questions, then you create a product for it, you know, because people are asking you because one, they trust you and two, they know that what you're going to provide or answer is going to

be something that they'll likely be able to do. Otherwise they wouldn't ask, you know, and then you see it as an opportunity that, well, if this one person or these two people or 10 people are asking this question, then there has to be more people out there with the same kind of question. So how can I serve them? And I say a lot of times, I think that blogging is helping other people. That's like part of the job description. It's not so much about us as the blogger, but who we are helping.

And it might be something that we figured out that then we're turning around and helping somebody else with, which is exactly what you're saying. Many of the streams of income that you just talked about are exactly that. You've found a way to offer a solution for a problem that is out there. And while you are providing the solution, you're also earning an income because I think it's also important to state that it's okay to not work for free. And I think, and really we shouldn't be, you know, I think that that's something that can be hard for people to understand too, you know, as they're starting out, like, I don't know. I just think that making money can be

icky feeling in the beginning. And I hope that we can kind of bust through that feeling and help other people, you know, especially women understand like, no, your time is valuable and you're worthy of earning an income and, and all of that. Like if you're providing solutions and there's nothing wrong with earning, earning an income off that. And I like, that's something I get like cripplingly hung up on. If you're familiar with Enneagrams, I'm an Enneagram one. And I get very like caught up in like fairness and justice and transparency and like wanting everything I create to be accessible. And like, it's really hard for me. I have people constantly telling me my products are too low or price too low. And I, and I And I know that they are.

That's something I'm diligently working on this year. But you're exactly right. And to me, I feel like I just need to... I'm working on striking a balance between charging an amount that feels good to me and also feeling like I'm being compensated well for my time. Because I really do work hard at everything I do. I'm being compensated well for my time. Cause I really do work hard at everything I do. And I really try to make it as amazing for the person who purchases it as I can, which related something I was going to add to that, that, that you kind of brought up was when you are thinking about

products to make like one, one area I see bloggers get into trouble with, in my opinion, is they'll try to reverse engineer that there's a balance here. I'm not totally writing off this process, but they'll sit down and like, try to brainstorm what kind of products they create. And ideally you're not brainstorming. Ideally you're like, I've got, I like for me, like sous vide school was a thing because I was like, I have so many people tell me they get an immersion circulator and it sits in their box because getting started is too intimidating. Like, and so for like six months, I was like, there's something here. I don't know what I need to create to solve this problem, but there's, I know I'm going to create something. And I was actually inspired by a friend's product. And I booked a coaching call

with her and I was like, I'm so, I want to create something like this, but for sous vide, first of all, can I have your blessing? Second of all, will you help me? And she's like, yes, let's do it. And so like, try to wait, like look for those questions that you keep getting and then create something in response to it. Don't sit down and be like, what do I like? What do I do? What can I make to make money? Because usually then it's not going to be as good of a product. And you also don't know if there's a demand for it at that point too, which can be risky. Such a good point. Such a good point. I think the answers are there when we're willing to like look for them instead of trying to find them.

Like you said, like they're there. If we're actively putting content out and we're getting responses and engagement, then the answers to the solutions are there. You know, it's just up to us to be creative. And that's the beauty of this job too, is, is being creative and saying, okay, so there's this need, what can I do to make a difference with my community and how to serve them better? Yep. And I think, you know, there's so like, there's so much opportunity for like collaboration

and supporting one another too. Like in my case, my friend gave me or let me into her course for free. I was like floored by how amazing it was. And I was like, this is what I have to do. I booked a coaching call with her, paid her for her time, got her blessing. And then she helped me create something that was like my own version of it. So we're all here to support each other too. Like that's why. And I think too, we can look at like, like you were saying, we can look at supporting each other while also compensating each other. You know, like that's something I'm still super uncomfortable with and working on. And yeah, like I have been asked about coaching

and stuff lately and I don't know how I feel about it. And you know, there's, there's, there's lots of things to consider, but yes. Yeah. I, I love what you said about, you know, just reaching out to someone though and getting their input. And have you found that to be an important part of the process, whether it be like hiring a coach or having a friend or a mentor, has that helped you just gain the confidence and helped you put together the ideas so that you could create a successful product or relationship with a sponsored post or things like that? Absolutely. So I, there's a coach I work with sometimes. And I think when you're going through this process,

you have to find one, the right person for you. And then two, sometimes even the right person for what you're trying to achieve that time. So for example, there's one woman who I go to quite frequently. She's not a food blogger, but her business is set up in a way I want my business to eventually be set up. So they're not the same, but it's the same structure. So I go to her constantly. And I

also just really like her. She gets hung up on how to price ethically, kind of like me, but she actually will price and, you know, get paid. And so I'm like, I just need that from her a lot. It's really helpful. And then there are times when I'm trying to create something that's like bigger and more ambitious and I'll, I'll pay for a coaching call with somebody else. And those calls are so important because it can be really hard to create in a vacuum and, and just not, you know, other people are going to see things you're not going to see. They're going to have ideas and input. And even with most of my products, I will have people test pilot them and give me feedback, even if it's just my mom, who's amazing, but then usually,

you know, a few other people as well. And so yeah, getting that help and embracing resources that are available to you are, are really important. I'm a big fan of courses and learning and things like that. I think they can feel a little weird and cheesy in this day and age sometimes, or overdone or mysterious. And the thing to really do is to just make sure you find people who are running these courses that you trust and who you jive with generally. And usually they, they are a big help. I would agree with that. I think that when you need the help for a specific topic, you can find it generally, you know, I just bought one for like food photography, for instance. And so, I mean, that's something that I'm obviously going to need help with. I currently hire

the photos out on my blog and that's an expense that I want to take away, you know, and replace with my own. And so yeah, somebody creates a course that you can take and it provides you with what you need for yourself. I think so many people are creating really great courses that are able to help those of us who are at home working and want to add another dimension to our business and to be more successful. Yep. Totally. I agree. Have you ever wanted to start a blog, but had no idea where to begin, or maybe you have a blog that you'd like to update and want some help to make it the best it can be. We know that there

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profitable business. We are committed to helping each and every student feel empowered and confident with the foundational principles of blogging and the behind-the-scenes work that goes into it. If you don't want to blog alone, we can help. We keep each round small in order to provide each student the attention and support we believe you deserve during this process. Since space is limited, get on the waitlist today so we can help you with your blog. The link to join the waitlist is in our show notes or go to sparkmediaconcepts.com and click on the ultimate blog bootcamp. So you've kind of got a lot of income streams going on. It sounds like you have a lot going on for somebody that's new thinking about blogging or has just started. That might sound a little bit overwhelming, but I think you have some pretty good systems in place.

Do you want to give some advice for if you're just diving in, you're wanting to set some income goals, you're wanting to figure out some different revenue streams, where would you suggest somebody starts? How organized should they be? How can they keep track of all of this? Yeah. So I truly believe diversification is important. Something could change with blog ads like the Google, what is it called when Google does it's like quarterly updates, like that could totally like impact your blog. Like there are, there are so many, you could lose a freelance client at any time. Like there are so many things that can happen. So I think multiple streams is good. Do you need to have seven? Absolutely not. But I think like having three is probably a good place to be in. And so if you can

even aim to do that at first, you know, and, and make sure that they are, they don good place to be in. And so if you can even aim to do that at first, you know, and make sure that they are, they don't have to be equal to each other, but like relatively balanced. For example, I would not make for most of us anyways, affiliate income, like a main pillar. You know, I, I did, I looked at my affiliate income from last year and I actually do fairly decently because people ask me about circulators and stuff all the time. And it was like 400 bucks. So, you know, shouldn't be, shouldn't be like a main thing. And then in terms of organization, I think being super aware of your business is really important. I know, like for me in high school, especially one of my worst tendencies, how do people call it?

Ostriching or like flamingoing when you put your head in the sand or whatever. I don't remember what, how people refer to it, but like, for me, I'd be like, oh, I'm not doing well in this class. I am going to ignore it until it's no longer a problem, not a good strategy and not a good strategy for your business. And so like what I do actually is I do a, what I, this is like a part of the goal setting thing I just did, but I do a weekly check-in with my business. So at the beginning of every week, I look at how many sessions my blog had the previous week. I look at my revenue from the previous week, where my Instagram followers are at, where my email list is at. This isn't necessarily for like my tracking. It's for me to like, just dive into my business real quick, see what's going on and then pop back out.

So I think that that's really important. And then I think I preach this. It doesn't necessarily resonate with everyone and maybe you can get by it, but I truly think that like monitoring your income streams and knowing how each of them is performing is really important. And sometimes it's going to be eye-opening for you. Like I, at the end of the year was shocked by how well my digital products did. And that's something I'm leaning into a little bit more this year. I'm like, holy crap, that was actually a really good use of my time. It was very time consuming, but it was good. And so just making sure you're aware of those things and like looking for opportunities. I think maybe this is just me, but I think sometimes spending time on those like high level tasks can feel like not a good use of our time

because it's not active. We're not actively developing a recipe. We're not actively shooting for a client. We're not like actively producing work, but that time. And for me, I probably spend 15 minutes, you know, a week doing that. And that act or in that like high level time is what is going to help you build your business. And then, you know, I maintain a to-do list. I work with a virtual assistant who does 80% of the backend work for all my digital products. Like I create them, but she's the one who builds the sales pages, make sure the email sequences work, like make sure products are actually getting delivered. Like she does all that tech stuff for me, which saves me an enormous amount of time. Okay. So when you take a look at all of that stuff, then do you, like last year, you took a look at everything that you did and

what you made money on, then does it help you reevaluate for the next year and decide, you know what, I'm going to put more time and energy into this area. And I'm actually going to back off from this area. Does that, you know, like you said, affiliate stuff, not like you're not going to share a link for a SUV or something like that, but are you maybe not going to push those links as hard as you would push somebody to enter into a digital product or a course that you're creating? Does that kind of change how you go about your business when you have those check-ins with yourself? Yes. Even in a way that I feel like is surprising. Cause I'll even evaluate evaluate like, do I like this stream of income? Do I like doing this work? And if I don't, I'm like, how can I pivot away from this? Because this, like,

for example, I don't love doing freelance work. However, it is my biggest source of income. And so I'm looking at how I can bolster these other sources of income. So I'm not as reliant on that freelance work. I also saw like steady, but not anything to write home about blog growth. And I really want that to be a bigger source of my income. So I am putting much more consistent energy into that this year. So even from that perspective, it helps. And, and like even seeing those courses grow or in like my digital products and stuff do well last year, what I'm trying to, admittedly, I am making two new products, but beyond that, one of my focuses. So I even talked

to my virtual assistant about this recently. Q1 for me this year is a lot of building and creating. I'm creating a lot in Q1. I'm honestly very overwhelmed, but then Q2, what I'm planning on doing is like refining it all. Like I'm going to go back through the cookbook lab and go through and update everything again. Same thing with sous vide school, like really, really refine it. And then we are working on in Q3 systems to make sure people are finding those and aware of them as much as possible. So hopefully transitioning to a little bit more like autopilot mode, knowing that there's like grounds for success for those products. That brings me to a question. So how do you currently market your products like that? Like

sous vide school or the cookbook lab? Do you do webinars to bring people in or how do you normally get people to find out about these? Yep. Sous Vide School is crazy passive. So right now, if somebody signs up for my email list, they go into a funnel that eventually takes them to Sous Vide School. Again, this is a really low cost product. It's 24 bucks. So it doesn't require a super hard sell for me. So that is like super passive, super easy and relatively consistent. Like I don't get crazy sales from it, but like several a month. And I'm hoping later this year we can again, bolster that up and make that even more consistent and passive. And is that an evergreen course? So people can join that course anytime and they do

it on their own. Yep. Totally. 100% passive. Occasionally I'll do like live stuff for it, like a live cooking class or something for everybody, but it's, that's more like a surprise and delight. Here you go. Kind of thing. So it's completely evergreen. And then my bigger stuff, like the cookbook lab, the goal setting workshop I did. So the goal setting workshop I did was live that was marketed to my email list and on Instagram cookbook lab. Usually I do a couple of webinars a year. And then I also do some strategic PR for that. So I was featured in the last issue or the issue before, I don't know if an issue has come out since then magazine cherry bomb as one of their like self-published authors to watch thing, which was super cool. And then like, I'll work on like digital article appearances,

podcasts, that kind of thing to promote that. And I'll do webinars for that. So I do typically with like my, the cookbook lab is pretty reasonably, we launched it at last, we relaunched it last year at like 197 and then brought it up to 247. And then now we're going to, or now, and now it's 297. And then we're going to be increasing again to 347. And so we just kind of like, we'll essentially like do a webinar right before raising the price is kind of like a last chance opportunity and do that every quarter. It's still evergreen. You can still join it anytime, but we'll do those webinars one to answer questions. Like I, a lot of people don't understand what self-publishing is and don't really understand what they're getting into

when they're going to buy the course. And then two, just as an opportunity to tell people about the course. And I'm really upfront about it. Like I'll be like, so my webinar is typically called something, what is it called? It's like, what is self-publishing

and why is it worth it? And I'll say, hey, at the end of this, I'm also going to be telling you about the Cookbook Lab. So just know this one has a sales pitch, just so you know. And it's free and people, but people know going in. Yeah. It's good to be transparent about that too. And I think a lot of people are probably there because they want to know, you know, and they want your help with it. Yep. And I, I, in my experience, everybody markets differently. There are lots of different

tactics and stuff. I love being transparent. It makes me feel good. I truly enjoy oversharing with people on my email list and stuff. And I have found that people respond really positively to that. A lot of people are like, you should slap a crazy price tag on there and do sales calls. And I'm like, nah, that's, that's, I don't know. I don't want to. And so I just embraced transparency and I just learned to be okay with it. I think that's how you find your most loyal following too. People love when you're authentic. People appreciate that. Forget about loving it. They appreciate it. Like, don't we all want that? Those genuine, like real authentic people. I think we all appreciate that. So keep doing you. I think

that's important. Thank you. So basically, you know, you've got all this going on. You decided to hire a VA. At what point do you know that's the right next step for your business? And what does that look like in terms of creating that relationship? Is it scary to hire on help or how can you kind of baby step into that? Yeah. So it's incredibly scary because in our positions, our businesses are our babies and like, there's something we created and it's stressful to relinquish that control. And I have worked with lots of freelancers and people who did VA type work, both like when I was working full-time and in my

business and not everybody is a fit. And I like for the one lesson I have learned is finding the right person and like personality is far more important than their skillset because you can train them to do anything. And in our, in the blogging landscape, there's something new all the time. Like Google web stories didn't exist a year and a half ago. It was all about Pinterest. And then we all had to learn Google Web. We are constantly changing what we have to be doing for our businesses. So I always tell people, don't be afraid if somebody is super green.

If they are the right person for you to work with, that's so much more important. So I did in 2018 when I took that part-time job and was like, okay, this is when I'm going to figure out how to make my blog a business full-time while I'm like transitioning. That was when I did my VA search. So I posted in Facebook groups. I had a form that I had people fill out, which I like still have. If anybody is curious, it's a little outdated now because it's from 2018, but, and I had a ton of people fill it out. So I was like in Facebook groups, like the gold digger podcast, Facebook group, and like lots of ones like that, like businessy ones. And I did probably seven phone interviews with candidates found Mara, who I'm still working with

to this day. And I'm so grateful I did. She is, she's like, like, I literally couldn't dream up a better fit for me for a virtual assistant in part, because like, there's many things. So one, I hired her for very few hours when we first started, I all, I was like, okay, any money I'm making on the side, I can put back into the business for now. And so for me at the time, that was my freelance income and it wasn't a lot. So I was like, okay, five hours to start. And since then she's grown with me, like, you know, most recently I think she did like a 20 hour month for me. And what's funny is, so at the time she was like VA for bloggers and now she's, so she still does a lot of blog work for me. So she does all my Google web stories. She'll like proofread my blog posts. She cross posts content that I post on Instagram onto Facebook

and Twitter, stuff like that. But the big thing that she does for me is the tech for all of my digital products. And now that's what she primarily offers to other people. So like her work has pivoted, you know, like in the, in the, her grand scheme along with mine. And yeah. And, and I truly couldn't do my business without her. Like I pray to God, she never leaves me. So you just have to find that person. I love that you said that because I think that that's important to note because you do need help sometimes. And it's awesome that she's grown with you. I often get a little sentimental and think, so Jennifer left her job

in 2013 and decided to like take a leap of faith and blog. If she wouldn't have done that, then I wouldn't be a blogger and we wouldn't have spark media concepts who trains all these other people how to be bloggers. And so like, I just look at how one person made one small, not just small decision, one big decision, scary decision, but the way that it trickles down and affects so many other people, which you're doing with all of your stuff too, you know, whether it's a VA or the people taking your courses, like you're making a huge impact. And I think that that's, there's something to be said about that when somebody decides

to take that leap of faith and become a blogger. And I think in the beginning, it feels like really scary and all of this, but what you learn to realize is that your impact is far and wide. And that's truly a blessing to be able to show up for other people in that way. One of my favorite things in the world and same thing with the woman who helped me with the cookbook lab. It's like when somebody publishes their book, it's like so exciting. And like, I immediately go buy a copy. I'm one of the first reviewers every time.

And it's like the coolest thing ever. And like brings me the most joy. And yeah, and that's exactly right. And like, even with my virtual assistant, we, we have a weekly phone call, a weekly zoom meeting. And usually we start like the first five or 10 minutes, just like talking about our businesses casually. And like, I want to hear about hers. I want to support her. And like, I want to see her grow. Like, you know, some people I like to me, I'm going to say this word a lot throughout this podcast, apparently, but like the vibe is not like being jealous when

your virtual assistant has another client or whatever, like you want them to have a great business on their own and like, and, and feel really good about that. And, you know, I think we have a really good community in terms of the blogging community that really supports each other though. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. I love how you've been so intentional about this process,

but like you've kind of had your ups and downs along the way you've chosen things that haven't worked out, but you've had such a positive attitude about it. And you're like, okay, well then I'll just pivot and I'll try the next thing. It sounds like you just never give up. Like this is what I want. So I'm going to find a way to make this happen. But on the same, on the same side of that, you're also very intentional about being authentic and really

serving the needs of your audience. So I just absolutely love it. And I, it inspires me just how, you know, you, you stay organized. You're very thoughtful about what's the next thing you're going to do. You're just, you're out there and you're just accomplishing those things. And I think that can be a hard for a lot of us. We get so easily overwhelmed by all the different ideas that we have. It's usually not a lack of ideas. It's just a lack of execution. A lot of times like figuring out what to do.

So I love how you just like chip all the way at those things, like one at a time and you just keep track of them and you pivot as you need to. I just love that. Yeah. It's it's you're exactly right. It's for most of us, it's not a lack of ideas. And like, even though I am like an Enneagram one or whatever, one thing I don't struggle with is perfectionism, but I did, that is something I have to get over. And what has allowed me to be able to be in that position is to have done things in the past and known I was capable of doing them. So for example, with the Airtable Summit that we're working on, we really hammered it out this week and really pushed. And we've still got a bunch of work to do, but I'm still confident

being like, okay, we're going to do this thing. Like it's out in the world now and knowing it's going to be really awesome by the time it arrives, you know? And, and that just takes practice and confidence and like growing that muscle. And it comes with time, which is annoying and nobody wants to hear that, but it's, but that's also me saying, do those things. If you have an idea, try it, refine it, keep poking at it. And like one thing I'm really trying to work on, but as you mentioned, you know, that, that plethora of ideas is, is the struggle is less creation after this Q1 and more just like refining what I have. Cause I've, I've got a lot going on and I, I don't need more.

I'm so excited to watch this all go into execution this year and just see this. Jennifer got us hooked up on Airtable, I think probably because of you. And so it's beautiful. So I am not a spreadsheet girl, but I am slowly learning that I need to become one to be better organized in my business. And so I'm excited to see what you come out with with that. But thank you so much for joining us today. This has been a really enlightening conversation that I think is going to offer so much value and people are going to take so much away from this.

And if you will just let everybody know where they can connect with you. Yeah, this was so fun. And I hope this is helpful. And if anybody like has questions, needs clarification or anything like that, I'm always down to chat. So you can find me anywhere at a duck's oven. So again, that's like a play on Dutch oven, but ducks instead always down for DMing on Instagram. Instagram is my favorite platform. And my blog is a duck seven.com. If anybody is interested in the cookbook

lab, they can go to a duck seven.com slash cookbook lab. And if anybody's interested in sous vide school, they can go to aduck7.com slash sous vide school. Awesome. Thank you so much, Chelsea. Thanks Chelsea. Thank you. Thanks so much for tuning in today. If you'd like to continue the conversation about blogging with us, please find us on Instagram at spark media concepts. You can also sign up for our weekly newsletter where we share blogging tips and inspiration. You can sign up by finding the link in the show notes. For those of you who are ready for the next step and want to start your own blog, join the waitlist for the ultimate blog bootcamp. The link to join the waitlist is also in the show notes. Go out and make today a great day.