• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About
  • Shop

The Worktop logo

menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Christmas Breakfast Ideas
  • All Breakfast Recipes
  • Easy Ideas
  • Brunch Ideas
  • Meet Tina
  • By Category
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • ×
    Home / Reflections / Turn Your Blog Into a Business

    Mar 19, 2015 · Last Updated: Nov 3, 2021

    Turn Your Blog Into a Business

    Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.

    Sharing is caring!

    A couple weekends ago, I was lucky enough to attend a brunch with 30 other London bloggers, including blog / Instagram legends - Niamh at Eat Like a Girl and Michael at Symmetry Breakfast. We chatted and learned about how to turn a blog into a business while making new friends.

    Yelp Blog School
    Photo: About Time magazine.

    Since it was such an exciting event for me, I wanted to share one tip I learned from each of the experts I met that day.

    1. Find your pitch!

    Rebecca, a freelancer for the Telegraph and the editor-in-chief of About FCKING Time magazine gave the wise advice that you need to be able to summarize your offering in 2 lines - whether you are drumming up traffic to a blog post, trying to work with a brand, or writing a freelance article. The pitch should give the gist of your post or idea while being catchy (think of it as your elevator pitch). For me, that means I'm going to move away from simply titling my blog posts with the name of the recipe.

    2. Be flexible when working with brands, but make sure it works for you.

    Sometimes brands will approach you with a specific project in mind, but the budget is lower than what you would like to charge (or no budget at all). Instead of saying no,  Niamh from Eat Like a Girl suggests that you offer the brand something else that you can accomplish within their budget. For example, if the brand asks for a recipe to be developed and has a budget of £50 while you normally charge £200, you could instead offer to do something else you'd be happy doing for £50, such as a product review. There are many ways to work with brands, so be flexible, but also make sure it works for you. It's important to work with brands in a way that builds your blog.

    3. Make it a commitment.

    Michael from Symmetry Breakfast impressed us with his morning routine. Every single day, he is up at 6 AM and prepping breakfast by 6:30 AM. He's done with the breakfast and snaps his photos by 7:30 AM. To keep his feed real, he doesn't photo ahead of time, but takes the time and effort to take each photo each day. Talk about commitment!

    4. Time your posts so it works with your audience.

    About Time magazine have found that their readers prefer health-focused posts on Monday to 'detox' from the weekend. But by the end of the week, their readers are more interested in fried foods and more indulgent treats. Every blog will have a different audience, but Angelica, the mag's editor-in-chief, emphasized the need to respond and time your content so it reaches readers at the right time.

    5. Build elite followers.

    Alex, Yelp's community director, shared the importance of finding your "elite" readers and building relationships with them. These are the readers that come back to your blog over and over again. They are the readers that comment on your posts and will tell other people about your site. Make sure you let them know they are your "elites" and be approachable to them. Perhaps that's setting aside an afternoon to work in a coffeeshop and letting your readers know they can pop by for a chat?

    There's so much to learn about blogging and I'm so glad that I was able to sit down with so many great bloggers and experts and chat about these topics. The event was hosted by About Time magazine and Yelp London. Thank you for your generosity and for providing a space for us to meet, network and learn!

    Yelp Blog School
    Photo: About Time magazine.

    « The Best Matcha Smoothie Ever (Vegan, GF, Dairy-free)
    Ottolenghi Inspired Black Garlic And Aubergine Toast »

    By Tina Jui
    Filed Under: ReflectionsTags: london

    About Tina Jui

    A breakfast lover and food blogger. Tina develops everyday breakfast recipes on The Worktop, and writes about all things related to breakfast and brunch. Read more about Tina Jui or drop an email to say hi.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Jenn says

      November 20, 2015 at 11:14 pm

      Great tips! Sounds like a great conference.

      Reply
    2. Bonnie Eng says

      April 16, 2015 at 9:20 pm

      These are great tips...wish I could have attended!! :)

      Reply
    3. Stefanie says

      March 25, 2015 at 7:01 pm

      This looks like so much fun and really useful!
      Wish I could have gone!
      Stef xx

      Reply
    4. Joscelyn | Wifemamafoodie says

      March 22, 2015 at 4:50 am

      Cute little piggy:) Thanks for sharing all of these wonderful tips! As a newbie blogger, I feel I still have so much to learn! Tip #3 spoke to me the most, because I am very easy going (aka NOT organized;) so I don't have a structured schedule that I adhere to each week. I think having certain times set aside for developing recipes/photography would really help me not to feel so overwhelmed. Anyway, really great advice, so thanks again!

      Reply
      • Tina Jui says

        March 24, 2015 at 3:10 pm

        Hi Joscelyn, I'm glad you found the tips helpful! Michael really impressed me with that schedule of his!

        Reply
    5. April @ Girl Gone Gourmet says

      March 21, 2015 at 12:20 pm

      Looks like a great conference -- I've been working on the first point you mentioned. I've never had a tagline or a specific focus for my blog (making it hard to create a sales pitch) -- I've always been more of a generalist than a specialist (i.e. I like to cook everything!), but recently I've been putting a lot of thought into what my niche is - it really helps shape the direction you want to go and will make it easier to formulate a great pitch for readers, brands, etc. Thanks for sharing your experience - and the pic of the cute micropig :)

      Reply
      • Tina Jui says

        March 24, 2015 at 3:07 pm

        Hi April, I love your blog and all your range of recipes. You do have a tagline -- "Cook at home". It's right there on your about page, and it really jumped out at me. When I read your blog, I feel like I could make everything on there any day of the week, and it all looks so good! I think it really inspires people to cook at home.

        Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

    Hi, I'm Tina and a lover of breakfast! The Worktop is where I share my everyday breakfast recipes. You can find lots of breakfasts and brunch ideas on my site. Many of the recipes are easy to make and healthy, but of course, you'll also find big brunch indulgences.

    More about The Worktop →

    Popular Breakfast Recipes

    • Sausage and Egg Breakfast Casserole - Easy Recipe | The Worktop
      Sausage and Egg Breakfast Casserole
    • Overnight Chia Seed Pudding with Almond Milk | The Worktop #breakfast #GF #vegan
      Overnight Chia Seed Pudding with Almond Milk (Vegan, GF)
    • Instant Pot Congee Chicken Rice Recipe | The Worktop
      Instant Pot Congee - Chicken and Rice
    • Glazed Donuts Krispy Kreme Recipe Copycat
      Original Glazed Donuts (Krispy Kreme Recipe Copycat)

    Hi, I'm Tina and a lover of breakfast! The Worktop is where I share my everyday breakfast recipes. You can find lots of breakfasts and brunch ideas on my site. Many of the recipes are easy to make and healthy, but of course, you'll also find big brunch indulgences.

    More about The Worktop →

    Popular Breakfast Recipes

    • Sausage and Egg Breakfast Casserole - Easy Recipe | The Worktop
      Sausage and Egg Breakfast Casserole
    • Overnight Chia Seed Pudding with Almond Milk | The Worktop #breakfast #GF #vegan
      Overnight Chia Seed Pudding with Almond Milk (Vegan, GF)
    • Instant Pot Congee Chicken Rice Recipe | The Worktop
      Instant Pot Congee - Chicken and Rice
    • Glazed Donuts Krispy Kreme Recipe Copycat
      Original Glazed Donuts (Krispy Kreme Recipe Copycat)

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • About
    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclosure Statement
    • Visit our sister site Home Time Activities

    As Featured On

    The Worktop Featured On Banner - Taste of Home, Buzzfeed, Decor, The Bump, FeedFeed

    Stay Connected

    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Email

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2013-2024 Rainbow Rice LLC. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site's author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.