The Food Blogger Pro Podcast

Increasing your traffic, growing your email list, and diversifying your revenue with Ben Jabbawy from GRO.
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Welcome to episode 573 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, to kick-off a new mini-series, Bjork is interviewing Ben Jabbawy from GRO (formerly known as Grocers List).
What's Actually Working for Food Creators Right Now
If you've been looking for a smarter way to turn your social media followers into website visitors, email subscribers, and paying members — this episode is for you. Ben Jabbawy and his team at GRO have sent over 100 million DMs across Instagram and Facebook on behalf of their food creator customers. That kind of scale gives Ben a uniquely data-driven lens into what's actually working for food creators right now — and in this episode, he shares it with us!
Bjork and Ben chat about recent changes in the social media landscape, dig into the strategies of successful food creators, and discuss why Facebook is suddenly driving a major surge in traffic for food bloggers. They also get into the email side of things and how GRO's new membership program lets food bloggers offer an ad-free experience or exclusive recipes directly on their site — no coding required.
Three episode takeaways:
What's actually working on Instagram and Facebook right now — Ben and Bjork dive into why carousel posts are performing so well for creators right now, including how to capture an audience with carousel posts and how to reuse your evergreen content for carousel posts. They also chat about Facebook strategy and explain where to include recipe links in your posts to get the biggest reach and the most click-throughs.
How to grow your email list using the content you're already creating — Ben walks through two high-converting email list growth strategies that food bloggers can implement right now: a simple "email to save recipe" prompt and a comment-for-DM lead magnet approach that delivers real value to your audience while building your list. He and Bjork talk about why building your email list through social media is one of the most important things you can do to protect your business from algorithm changes, and how GRO's improved functionality makes this easier than ever.
How to launch a membership program directly on your food blog — GRO's new membership feature lets food bloggers offer an ad-free experience or exclusive recipes to paying members — integrated directly into their site. Ben shares the key ingredients for building a meaningful revenue stream out of memberships, including the price points he recommends, what actually drives sign-ups, and how to think about what recipes to put behind a paywall.
Resources:
GRO.co
Pinch of Yum
Pinch of Yum Trader Joe's Meal Plans
Inside Crowded Kitchen's Strategy for Growing to 2.4 Million Followers on Facebook
How Food Dolls Turned Facebook Into Their Top Traffic Source
Sally's Baking
Joy to the Food
Stay Snatched
Mediavine
Raptive
Kit — affiliate link!
How Pinch of Yum Uses Instagram to Grow Their Email List
Substack
Food Empires
Follow GRO on Instagram
Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group
Thank you to our sponsors!
This episode is sponsored by GRO.
Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started here.
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to [email protected].
Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership.

Avoiding creator burnout and reconnecting with your "why" with Josh Zimmerman of Creator Coach. 
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Welcome to episode 572 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Josh Zimmerman. 
How to Sustain Long-Term Creativity Without Burning Out with Josh Zimmerman
What happens when your personal brand is you and the work starts to feel like too much? Josh Zimmerman knows this territory well. After a career in journalism, he made the pivot to life coaching specifically for creators, drawn to the unique pressures that come with building a business around your identity and your output.
In this episode, Josh and Bjork dig into the mental side of creative work; specifically, why burnout hits creators differently, how to reconnect with the "why" behind what you do, and what it actually looks like to build a sustainable creative business for the long haul. They also talk about the role of fractional C-suite executives and how bringing in the right support can help you manage the business side of things without losing your creative spark. If you've ever felt the weight of your work pressing in on your sense of self, this episode is a great reminder that you're not alone. and that there's a way forward.
Three episode takeaways:
Your identity and your work are not the same thing: When your personal brand is built around who you are, it's easy for criticism or creative slumps to feel deeply personal. Recognizing that separation — and actively protecting it — is key to long-term sustainability as a creator. 
How to reconnect with your "why": When motivation starts to fade, the answer isn't always to push harder. Getting clear on your core motivations and the reasons you started creating in the first place can be one of the most practical things you do for your business.
You don't have to run every part of your business alone: Bringing in outside support can free you up to focus on the creative work you actually love, without letting the operational side of your business drain your energy and spark.
Resources:
Creator Coach
YouTube Nation
jzmanagement
Episode 563 of The Food Blogger Pro podcast: Using AI to Eliminate Busywork and Unlock Creative Time with Jason Glaspey
Follow Creator Coach on Instagram
Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group
Thank you to our sponsors!
This episode is sponsored by Member Kitchens. Learn more about our sponsors at foodbloggerpro.com/sponsors.
Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started here.
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to [email protected].
Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership.

Leveraging Pinterest for growth and the "ready, fire, aim" mindset with Sharlene Murrell of Good Enough Moming. 
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Welcome to episode 571 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Sharlene Murrell. 
Leaving Your Day Job and Scaling a Food Blog with Pinterest with Sharlene Murrell
In this episode, Bjork Ostrom sits down with Sharlene to explore her journey of building a thriving food blog by mastering Pinterest. Sharlene shares how adopting a "ready, fire, aim" mindset and overcoming early struggles with keyword research helped her rapidly scale her traffic and income after leaving her day job.
The conversation also dives into actionable Pinterest strategies, including targeting broad keywords, creating multiple pins per post, and leveraging tools like Canva. They round out the conversation with practical advice on capitalizing on seasonal trends, maintaining consistency, and overcoming imposter syndrome. No matter where you are in your food blogging journey, this episode is packed with inspiration and tactics for creators ready to take action!
Three episode takeaways:
 The "ready, fire, aim" mindset: Sharlene's success highlights the importance of the "ready, fire, aim" approach. Launching quickly and iterating based on feedback can accelerate your growth and help you identify what resonates with your audience. 
Leveraging Pinterest for growth: By mastering keyword research and targeting broad keywords, Sharlene effectively used Pinterest to drive significant traffic to her blog. Consistency and understanding the platform's seasonal nature are crucial for success.
How to repurpose content creatively: Sharlene emphasizes the value of repurposing content across different platforms and formats. This strategy not only saves time but also maximizes exposure and engagement with diverse audiences!
Resources:
Good Enough Moming
Farmhouse on Boone
Raptive
Mediavine
The Simple Pin Podcast
PinClicks
PinnerAnalytics
EasyPinScheduler
PinnerPress
Canva
Chuy's
Follow Sharlene on Instagram and Pinterest
Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group
Thank you to our sponsors!
This episode is sponsored by Yoast. Learn more about our sponsors at foodbloggerpro.com/sponsors.
Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started here.
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to [email protected].
Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership.

Strategies for growing on Instagram and Substack, the importance of staying consistent, and leaning into data with Jenn Lueke from Jenn Eats Goood.
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Welcome to episode 570 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Jenn Lueke.
How Jenn Lueke Grew to 1.7 Million Followers with Budget Meal Planning Content
Jenn Lueke started Jenn Eats Goood in 2018 as a college student — no strategy, no monetization plan, just a hobby Instagram account she loved running. For five years, growth was slow, but she remained consistent. Then in 2023, something clicked. She leaned into meal planning and budget grocery content, and everything changed. Within a year, she went from stalling in the thousands to crossing one million followers.
In this episode, Jenn and Bjork chat about all of it — what finally worked, how she prioritizes data in her content strategy, which platforms she's focusing on right now, and why she now considers her Substack newsletter her number one priority.
Three episode takeaways:
The importance of leaning into what is working — It took five years of trial and error, learning, experimenting, and testing before Jenn's following on social media started to grow. Her meal planning content really resonated with her audience, so she capitalized on the momentum of the series to grow her community (rather than reinventing the wheel)!
How Jenn built her team — Growth brings new challenges, and Jenn is candid about how hard it was to build a team in the beginning and what the division of labor looks like now that she's figured it out.
Why Jenn made Substack her number one priority — After just a couple of years, Substack is now the biggest revenue driver in Jenn's business. She and Bjork talk about how she balances free and paid content, what drives growth on Substack, and why it is the most important part of her business right now.
Resources:
Jenn Eats Goood
Liz Moody
Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell
Q&A: Using Substack as a Food Creator — for Food Blogger Pro members
Don't Think About Dinner
Follow Jenn on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Substack, and YouTube
Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group
Thank you to our sponsors!
This episode is sponsored by Clariti.
Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started here.
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to [email protected].
Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership.

Building a thriving email list, setting boundaries for your business, and leaning into your voice with Liz Wilcox.
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Welcome to episode 569 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Liz Wilcox.
How to Write Emails Your Readers Actually Want to Open
Early on in Liz's career as a content creator, she noticed a pattern: the most successful creators all had one thing in common — a thriving email list. So she started hers from day one, and she never looked back.
In the following years, Liz sold her travel blog, went all in on teaching email marketing, built a membership with 4,000 members, and — plot twist — competed on Survivor while her business kept running, generating $1,000 a day in revenue while she was literally on an island with no phone.
In this episode, Liz and Bjork talk about what it actually takes to build an email list that drives real business results, how she transitioned from one-on-one client work to a scalable membership model, and why she believes the biggest thing holding most creators back from email success isn't strategy — it's that they've stopped sounding like themselves. She also shares the mindset shifts, boundary-setting practices, and growth tactics that have made her business not just profitable, but genuinely sustainable.
Three episode takeaways:
Why email is the most important investment you can make in your business — Liz shares the tactics that have worked for building her list and her membership to 4,000 members, including live events, collaborations, freebie swaps, and affiliate marketing. She also talks about why getting in front of people and showing your face matters more than ever and why giving people a real reason to trust you is the foundation everything else is built on.
How Liz built a business with real boundaries — From knowing what "enough" looks like financially to the practice of saying no, Liz talks about the discipline and intentionality that have shaped her business.
The biggest email mistakes food creators make (and how to fix them) — Liz has seen a lot of creator newsletters, and she knows exactly where things go wrong. She shares the most common mistakes she sees and why leaning into your humanity, writing like yourself, and showing that you're genuinely invested in your readers can make all the difference.
Resources:
LizWilcox.com
Kirk DeWindt
Morgan Housel
Kit
Craft + Commerce
Liz's Email Marketing Membership
Follow Liz on Instagram and Facebook
Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group
Thank you to our sponsors!
This episode is sponsored by Yoast and zZest.
Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started here.
If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to [email protected].
Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership.