My Advice for New Food Bloggers in 2022
So you want to start a food blog in 2022—how exciting! It’s quite an adventure with tons of opportunity to learn, grow, and connect with hundreds of other food bloggers. It may seem overwhelming when you first start, but if you take it day by day, step by step, it gets easier the more you do it. So today, I’m offering some of my best advice for new food bloggers.
I’ve been blogging for longer than a decade (wow, it feels weird to type that and see it in front of me!). I wasn’t always a food blogger; in fact, in the beginning, I didn’t want to be a food blogger. But as they say, write what you know, and follow your heart (and stomach). After finding myself blogging the recipes I was learning and making on my own, and sharing the places I was eating and exploring around Chattanooga, I embraced food blogger life.
In the last ten-plus years, I’ve learned a lot about blogging—both food blogging and otherwise. My day job in marketing helped a ton, for sure, but blogging is of course its own venture.
If you’ve been considering starting a food blog—or any blog, for that matter—keep reading! I’m about to dive into some of the top things I’ve learned from blogging, and my advice for new food bloggers in 2022.
Why should you start a food blog?
Blogging is continuously growing as an industry. Yes, even with the popularity of video content and podcasts, blogging keeps growing! According to Semrush, there were 31.7 million blogs in the U.S. in 2020. And between 2014 and 2020, the number of bloggers in the U.S. increased by 10 million.
Food blogging is an awesome creative outlet. Especially if your day job is stressful or mentally taxing. It’s important to have a hobby or creative outlet that utilizes different skills or parts of your brain so you don’t burn out on either side.
It’s an endless learning experience. Recipes, techniques, website maintenance, content management, social platforms, content creation, photography, now video… there’s always something new to learn. I learn something new almost every day.
There will always be people who prefer to read a recipe than follow a video. Sometimes, it’s easier to have a written or printed recipe in front of you, rather than watching, re-watching, and rewinding a video over and over. Plus, not everyone likes working with video or audio.
If you were feeling any amount of hesitancy about starting a food blog, push it aside! There will always be a place for food blogs on the Internet.
Here’s some of my best advice for new food bloggers in 2022!
Find some accounts and people to follow for inspiration. I have a whole separate post about my favorite food accounts to follow linked below. Having “role models” in the space helps you stay up to date on trends, keeps knowledge fresh, and provides inspiration for new recipes and techniques to try. I recommend following a mix of food bloggers, content creators, professional chefs, and self-taught home cooks so you get a variety of expertise in your feeds.
Plan your content. Admittedly I am not always the best at planning my content too far in advance. Honestly, I do well to plan a month ahead of time. But, the more you can plan and work ahead, you’ll set yourself up for success. Planning ahead keeps you aware of trends or upcoming holidays, special occasions, or other annual “tentpole moments” like we call them at work.
Keep a running list of content ideas. You never know when a brilliant idea will hit! I have a running note on my phone, and many pages of lists in my bullet journal just for jotting down ideas for blog posts, Instagram reels, TikToks, or anything else. This way, when I’m not feeling very creative, I always have a list to refer to when I need to work on new content.
Always be learning. As my grandfather said, nothing you learn is ever wasted. That’s especially true in blogging and content creation! Even if you’re not an expert food photographer (I most certainly am not), knowing the basics and fundamentals will still serve you well. Video is not my strongest suit, but I’m trying to learn it as best I can.
You don’t have to be on every social media platform. Believe me, that would be super exhausting. Creating content for 1-2 platforms is tiring enough on its own! Experiment and find what platforms work best for you, and then narrow in and focus on those.
You don’t have to be amazing at everything involved in food blogging. I’m not a great photographer or photo editor, but I’m confident in my writing skills, understanding of social media (thanks, day job), and ability to create exciting recipes. Everything balances out!
Don’t stress yourself out too much. Remember, numbers aren’t always the end-all, be-all. Sure, they matter to some degree, probably more if blogging is your full-time gig. If you focus too much on the numbers, you’ll stress yourself out and perhaps lose your enjoyment and love of blogging. You blog because you enjoy it, right?
Did you find this post helpful? You might also like:
- Instagram Reels for Food Bloggers
- Instagram Post Ideas for Food Bloggers
- My Favorite Food Photography Props
- My Favorite Food Accounts to Follow
I hope you found this advice helpful! If you’ve been thinking about starting a food blog, 2022 is your year. Go for it!
Thanks so much for reading and eating along, y’all! If you’re craving more, follow me on Instagram and Pinterest, and sign up for my email list so you never miss a recipe. If you make one of my recipes, tag me on Instagram or share a photo on my Facebook page so I can see your work!