469: How Erin Collins Went from 25,000 to 250,000 Instagram Followers While Self-Publishing a Cookbook

The Food Blogger Pro Podcast

Outsourcing tasks, growing a social media following, and self-publishing a cookbook with Erin Collins from Meaningful Eats.

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Welcome to episode 469 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Erin Collins from Meaningful Eats.

How Erin Collins Went from 25,000 to 250,000 Instagram Followers While Self-Publishing a Cookbook

Erin started her blog, Meaningful Eats, in 2012. Since then, she has self-published a cookbook (another one is coming out soon!), grown her site to 1 million monthly page views, and gained over 275,000 Instagram followers.

In this interview, Erin talks about how she achieves a work-life balance by delegating tasks and how being aware of her “zone of genius” allows her to focus on what she’s most passionate about. She also discusses how she committed to growing her Instagram following by honing in on her audience’s needs.

She self-published her cookbook “Gluten-Free Cookies, Brownies, and Bars” last fall and generated over $100,000 in revenue in the first nine months! It was great to hear about her process of self-publishing a cookbook. We can’t wait for you to dive in to hear more about her story!

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How she balances parenthood and blogging (hint: weekly family meetings are key!)
• How she uses timed constrictions to be more intentional with her time
• How she prioritizes her work during seasons of limited time
• How outsourcing tasks allows her to achieve a work-life balance
• How to leverage your zone of genius (and being aware of your zones of competence and incompetence) for your blog
• How she grew her Instagram following from 25,000 to 250,000
• How she decided to make the shift to quality over quantity
• How incorporating various series (12 GF cookies for Christmas) into her Instagram strategy drove engagement
• How she uses chat marketing tools like ManyChat to deliver content
• Why she decided to self-publish her cookbook (which saw almost $100,000 in revenue in the first 9 months!) and how she went about it.
• The cost breakdown of self-publishing a cookbook: working with a printing company, shipping, etc.
• How she’s looking to make the shift to connect with her audience and include more income streams
• Her number one tip for food bloggers who are just starting out (spoiler: it’s to focus on one thing at a time)

Resources:

• Meaningful Eats
• Erin’s cookbook “Gluten-Free Cookies, Brownies, and Bars”
• Episode 365 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast: How to Find Your Zone of Genius and Hire the Right People with Emily Perron
• Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett
• Designing Your Work Life
• The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
• ManyChat
• Mixam
• Sticker Mule
• Ecwid
• 1,000 True Fans by Kevin Kelly
• Follow Erin on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok
• Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group

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