678: Successful Collaboration - How to Create a Cookbook with Other Bloggers With McKenna Pulda, Emily Christensen & Amy Coyne
Release Date: 04/14/2025
690: Environmental Impacts of Generative AI and How to Use it Ethically as Small Business Owners with Danielle Madden
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689: How To Predict Content Success Instead of Guessing What Your Audience Wants with Dr. Kristen Wager
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In episode 689, Dr. Kristen Wager teaches us how to use research to drive our content strategy, in order to predict what content will perform well instead of guessing what our audience wants. Dr. Kristen Wager is a consumer researcher with over 15 years of experience and a Ph.D. in research. She has worked with major companies like Google, Amazon, and Meta, gaining firsthand insight into how research shapes strategy and drives growth. While these companies invest billions each year to understand their audiences, she believes creators deserve access to the same level of insight. Most recently,...
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688: 5 Ways to Reframe Your Thoughts Throughout the Day for More Joy (Mindset & Self-Care)
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A practical guide to reframing negative thought patterns and inviting more joy, peace, and success into your daily life through intentional mental shifts. Today, I want to dive into the way we talk to ourselves and the narratives we create in our minds. Our brains are naturally wired to focus on the negative—but here’s the good news: we have the power to rewrite that narrative. In this episode, I’m sharing five transformative strategies to help you reframe your thoughts and invite more joy into your everyday life. Action Plan: 1 - Flip the “What If” Spiral: Challenge negative what-if...
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687: The Best Time Management Tip To Overcome Overwhelm And Hit Your Goals with Anna Dearmon Kornick
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In episode 687, Megan chats to Anna Dearmon Kornick about why a Weekly Planning Session is the best time management tip to start overcoming overwhelm and hitting our goals. Anna Dearmon Kornick is a highly sought after time management coach and keynote speaker, top 1% globally ranked podcast host of It's About Time, and founder of the It’s About Time Academy. A true Louisiana firecracker who has become known for making time management fun, Anna helps busy professionals and business owners struggling with overwhelm manage their time using her personality-driven HEART Method. In this episode,...
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686: Thriving After 50 - How To Build a Food Business with Multiple Streams of Income with Christine Van Bloem
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685: 5 Mindset Shifts From Attending In-Person Retreats (Mindset & Self-Care)
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684: How to Grow Your Business While Being a Mom for the First Time with Chelsea Cole
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683: Why Food Bloggers Need to Know About Email Swaps (+How To Easily Add New Subscribers) with Chad Allen
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In episode 683, Chad Allen delivers a game-changing strategy that could transform the way food bloggers think about growing their email lists: the powerful and often overlooked technique of email swaps Chad R. Allen is a writer, speaker, editor, and writing coach. A 25-year publishing professional, he has worked with such bestselling authors as Michael Hyatt, Caroline Leaf, Mark Batterson, and Phyllis Tickle. He is the creator of BookCamp, a training center and community for writers, as well as Book Proposal Academy, an online course. His passion is helping writers craft must-read books that...
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682: 5 Ways to Have More Discipline in Your Life (Mindset & Self-Care)
Eat Blog Talk
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681: Authenticity is The Secret to Long-Term Success (+How to Pivot as a Veteran Blogger) With Megan Keno
Eat Blog Talk
In episode 681, Megan chats to Megan Keno about key aspects of her 15-year blogging journey that have led to her success, including knowing where to spend your time and when to pivot. Megan is creator and CEO of Homemade Home, a veteran 15 year old food blog, focused on every day elevated dishes and cast iron cooking. Megan is also a cast member of season 4 of FOX's Next Level Chef with Gordon Ramsay. Oh yeah, and he has her cookbook. In this episode, you’ll learn about building a sustainable food blogging business while maintaining authenticity, and why saying ‘yes’ to unexpected...
info_outlineIn episode 678, Megan Porta chats with McKenna Pulda, Emily Christensen, and Amy Coyne about how to successfully collaborate on a cookbook.
McKenna Pulda is a former choir teacher turned sourdough enthusiast, recipe developer, and mom of two. After receiving her first sourdough starter 4 years ago, her love for baking quickly turned into a passion for creating delicious, from-scratch recipes with a sourdough twist. Since starting her blog, Simplicity and a Starter, in 2023, McKenna has shared 150+ tried-and-true sourdough recipes and also co-authored a cookbook, Our Sourdough Table, featuring long-fermented and quick sourdough recipes that are perfect for the holiday season.
Emily is the creator and voice behind Country Roads Sourdough, where she shares tried-and-true sourdough bread and discard recipes, along with helpful sourdough tips and techniques. After leaving her corporate brand management career to become a stay-at-home mom, she quickly realized she needed a creative outlet and began hosting local sourdough classes. What started as a passion project quickly took off after a few viral Instagram videos—turning her love for sourdough into a full-time career.
Amy Coyne is a sourdough teacher, recipe developer, and mom to four awesome kiddos. She has grown her website over the last two years from 100K pageviews in 2022 to almost 10 million pageviews at the end of 2024. She shares tried-and-true sourdough recipes on her website and with her Instagram and social media communities.
Summary & Takeaways
In this episode, you’ll learn how to coordinate writing a collaborative cookbook, from deciding who to collaborate with to how to create a cohesive look and boost sales through social media marketing.
Key points discussed include:
- Who to collaborate with: Emily reached out to Amy and McKenna via Instagram DMs because they had similar followings and vibes.
- Deciding on a niche: The group decided to focus on holiday sourdough recipes, filling a unique niche.
- Maintaining a cohesive look: They coordinated photography styles, using neutral colors and backgrounds, even reshooting existing blog photos to align.
- Organization and book cover design: The group used Google Docs to organize recipes by category and Canva to create the cookbook layout.
- In-person retreat: The group had a working weekend at an Airbnb to photograph recipes, proofread, and plan marketing strategies.
- Choosing a self-publishing platform: They selected Lulu for its print-on-demand service, quality, payment splitting, and worldwide printing locations.
- Marketing strategies: The group conducted live bake-alongs and created weekly Instagram reels to promote the cookbook.
- Customer service: The team helped customers with order issues, but also realized the limitations of print-on-demand, since they didn’t have the actual product or shipping control.
- The power of collaboration: Working together helped them grow their followings, build lasting friendships, and create a product that they loved.
Guest Details
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