Ep #40: Growing a Local Audience for Your Blog

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If you have a marketing plan as a blogger, more than likely that plan has a national focus. There’s nothing wrong with that, especially if that’s where you feel the majority of your readers come from. However, there’s something to be said for cultivating a local audience too. In fact, that’s one reason I asked today’s guest to be on the show. So read (and listen) on to learn about Growing a local audience for your blog with Emily Paster.

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I think one of the best things bloggers can do for themselves is to establish themselves as an expert. — Emily Paster, #choppedcon Click To Tweet When you’re trying to establish yourself as an expert with your readers, do you ever consider the notion that building up a local audience can plan a huge role in the process? Today’s guest, Emily Paster did just that. Of course, the thing is, it’s not as if she had that as an end goal. She genuinely was passionate about creating a Food Swap in her city, Chicago. And as the Chicago Food Swap became a known entity, so did she. She’s done local TV segments and has received local food blogging awards, all because she was well-known within the local food scene. An added bonus? She was building community around food, helping people in Chicago get to know each other as well.

Emily is co-founder of the Chicago Food Swap and is publishing a book with tips on how you can create a Food Swap in your area too (see link below with more information). As a result, Emily has become well known within the Chicago food scene. Of course there are other ways to get involved with your local food scene without creating a food swap, but it happens to be one really great idea. Emily shares in today’s interview some of the tips she’s used to organize the Chicago Food Swap and the opportunities it’s created for her to interact with people in her community.

Of course, we also talk about blogging and social media in general. Emily shares about her favorite social media (and soon to be favorite social media, aka SnapChat) and other blogging tips. Learn more about Growing Your Local Audience for Bloggers with Emily Paster!

Featured Content – Growing a Local Audience for Your Blog with Emily Paster

Here are some of the highlights of my discussion with Emily, where we discuss:

  • How Emily started her blog West of the Loop
  • How Emily began the Chicago Food Swap
  • Why Emily thinks it’s important for bloggers to get involved locally
  • Emily describes the process she uses for organizing the Chicago Food Swap
  • We talk about the benefits of building up a local market
  • We talk about important blogging strategies
  • Emily uses a combination of planned posts and inspired posts in her planning process
  • We talk a little about SnapChat and how it’s the next up-and-coming social media platform for food bloggers

Show Notes

This episode includes references to some resources you might find interesting. Here they are:

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Posted in Food Blog Resources, Food Blogging, Podcast