Jamie Silva knew early on that she wished to run her personal enterprise.
When she reached a turning level in her skilled profession, she took the plunge and dove headfirst into meals running a blog.
Her Cuban delicacies weblog, A Sassy Spoon, was born, and a 12 months later she was accepted into Mediavine. Through the years she has continued to develop, scale, pivot, and adapt, and has even began teaching different meals bloggers.
At the moment her web site will get thousands and thousands of pageviews a 12 months and he or she’s incomes a number of 6 figures.
Maintain studying to search out out:
- Why she give up her day job
- How she obtained into meals running a blog
- The place her earnings comes from
- Her predominant advertising technique
- Her ideas on search engine optimisation and EEAT
- Her method to key phrase analysis
- Her content material creation course of
- Her go-to sources and instruments
- Her largest problem
- Her best accomplishment
- Her predominant mistake
- Her recommendation for different entrepreneurs
Meet Jamie Silva
My identify is Jamie and I used to be born and raised in Miami, Florida by Cuban mother and father.
For so long as I may keep in mind, I wished to begin my very own enterprise. In my previous life, I attempted opening a number of on-line ventures and lifestyle blogs solely to shortly speak myself out of the concept and give up with out ever giving them an opportunity to develop.
It wasn’t till I used to be at a fork within the highway with my profession in 2016 that I made a decision to actually decide to turning my dream of changing into my very own boss right into a actuality.
By that time, I had been hustling my method by way of company life, working as a social media strategist for big-time shoppers within the culinary area.
Previous to that, I used to be climbing the company ladder within the healthcare trade. Someplace in between, I went again to high school and obtained my bachelor’s in enterprise.
Evidently, for somebody with a artistic, entrepreneurial spirit like mine, my day-to-day life certain did not replicate it.
This fashion-too-safe route I used to be instructed to decide on for my life was making me crave change. I wished a profession that supplied freedom and adaptability and a break from the mundane on a regular basis routine.
That is after I determined to give up my full-time job to determine my subsequent transfer.
I totally supposed on interviewing for different 9-5 jobs however as an alternative, I discovered myself happening rabbit holes of analysis, studying blog income reports and studying all about find out how to earn money from a meals weblog. I used to be offered.
I made a decision I used to be going to provide running a blog one other shot and actually keep on with it for an extended haul this time. And that I did.
At the moment, I am the food blogger, recipe developer, and meals photographer behind the multi-six-figure meals weblog, A Sassy Spoon.
Why She Created Her Web site
Earlier than I even purchased a domain name, I learn rather a lot about meals running a blog from different profitable meals bloggers.
One specifically was Pinch of Yum. Their earnings studies shed a lot gentle on simply how profitable meals running a blog was.
Regardless that I had enterprise/digital advertising information and expertise, and had labored with meals bloggers in my company job, I didn’t actually perceive find out how to make an annual wage from a weblog.
This was 2016, and there wasn’t a lot info on the market about worthwhile meals running a blog. All I knew was that all of it appeared attainable. Promising, even.
For the primary time in a very long time, it lastly felt like the proper path for me.
I bought my area in February 2016 and I started sharing recipes utilizing iPhone images. I finally purchased a used DSLR from a pawn store (true story) and realized meals images.
From the start, I targeted rather a lot on search engine optimisation and web site pace. I’ll not have recognized a lot about meals running a blog but, however I knew that rating on Google was enormous.
I invested in web site optimization early on. Moreover, I started working with a neighborhood boutique PR agency managing social media accounts for native eating places. It was a blessing to have a versatile, work-from-home gig whereas I constructed A Sassy Spoon. Ceaselessly grateful for the chance.
By July 2017, I used to be in a position to qualify for Mediavine (1.5 years after beginning my weblog) with roughly 47,000 month-to-month web page views (the requirement again then was 25,000 month-to-month classes).
Google and Pinterest were my highest traffic drivers. By the top of 2017, I certified for Raptive (beforehand AdThrive) with over 100,000 web page views.
How A lot She’s Incomes
Since 2017, my earnings streams have included a mixture of show adverts, sponsored content material, internet affiliate marketing, and freelance meals images.
By 2018, I made $85k whole per 12 months. In 2019, I added weblog teaching as an earnings stream after feeling like I lastly had one thing of worth to share.
And I scaled to over $100k in income. By 2021, I scaled to multi-six-figures and have been in a position to maintain that till right now.
As of 2023, that is my earnings breakdown:
- Advert Income – 78%
- Weblog Teaching – 21%
- Affiliate Advertising – 1%
Nearly all of my earnings comes from the show adverts on A Sassy Spoon. That one earnings stream generates multi-six figures alone.
This, after all, is gross earnings and doesn’t embrace bills for issues like taxes, groceries, tools, webhosting, contractors, accountants, instruments, subscriptions, schooling, and many others.
I’m averaging $20k months with Mediavine Professional. Some months it’s larger or decrease, relying on the season. I additionally stopped working with manufacturers in late 2022 to focus extra on the coaching side of my business.
As for site visitors, A Sassy Spoon receives over 3.5 million pageviews per 12 months, which is roughly 290,000 web page views per 30 days.
I work roughly about 20 hours per week on each teaching and A Sassy Spoon.
Her Major Advertising Technique
In 2022, I noticed I used to be caught in a web page view plateau. It doesn’t matter what search engine optimisation magic I did or key phrases I used, my site visitors was caught.
I made a decision to slim down my area of interest from consolation meals to Cuban delicacies. I additionally revamped my content material technique to create content material that aligned with my expertise and experience.
Contemplating I’m a first-generation Cuban-American who grew up having fun with these tried-and-true classics and cooking with my Cuban household, this was the plain alternative to face out and scale.
By the top of 2022, having a targeted area of interest ended up being the catalyst in breaking by way of my site visitors plateau. My site visitors elevated by 40% consequently.
Her Ideas on search engine optimisation
search engine optimisation is essential for my enterprise. Organic search is my primary traffic driver.
My general search engine optimisation technique is to leverage semantic search engine optimisation and create content material that not solely aligns with my area of interest and EEAT, but in addition builds topical authority in Cuban delicacies.
Previously, I targeted too closely on the key phrases/search quantity and located that my content material was disconnected and never resonating with the viewers I wished to focus on.
Now, I concentrate on creating content material that understands and responds to the intent behind consumer queries which is simple when you understand your viewers/matters in and out.
Key phrase Analysis
I used to do key phrase analysis first after I was planning out content material, however now I take advantage of it as extra of a cross-reference for my weblog posts.
As a result of I do know my Cuban Delicacies area of interest so properly, I do know precisely what my viewers is on the lookout for, so I plan content material primarily based on that as an alternative of chasing key phrases for the sake of rating.
I develop, model, shoot, and create the recipe after which write the recipe posts. As soon as the weblog put up is drafted, I take advantage of KeySearch to boost the put up with key phrases if mandatory.
I discover that I often cowl all the primary key phrases with out the preliminary key phrase analysis as a result of I write with my viewers in thoughts. This technique is what has helped me proceed to scale my blog traffic.
Hyperlink Constructing
It’s humorous, I’ve really by no means pitched for a backlink ever. The backlinks I’ve acquired within the final 8 years have been from publishers discovering my content material by way of Google or Pinterest.
Evidently, I don’t have a technique for constructing backlinks.
I do, nonetheless, concentrate on strategic inner linking which has been extremely very important in serving to me break by way of my web page view plateau since 2022.
Jamie’s Content material Creation Course of
I’ve 319 blog posts in whole. As a recipe blogger, we have now a number of transferring elements to our workflow, so I divide the duties into themed days.
Sundays/Mondays are planning and prep days; Tuesdays are shoot days; Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays are for calls, modifying images, and writing. This helps reduce the overwhelm and helps me keep constant by having weeks of content material scheduled forward of time.
I even have one other meals photographer and my superb VA who assist me with the running a blog facet of the enterprise. Once I’ve wanted further recipes photographed for the weblog, I ship my meals photographer a really detailed doc with the step-by-step images I would like.
Aside from that, my VA takes care of selling my blog posts for me on Pinterest and Google Net Tales, and generally helps me draft the weblog posts in WordPress as properly.
I not share content material on Instagram or Fb.
Her Electronic mail Checklist
I’ve an opt-in kind inside my blog posts and use Mediavine’s Highlight Subscribe characteristic so my viewers can’t miss it as they scroll by way of the recipe put up.
Readers decide into my preliminary welcome sequence after which are moved to a nurture sequence. That is totally on autopilot and my e mail subscribers have tripled since I narrowed down my area of interest in early 2022.
Her Favourite Sources
The sources which have helped me develop and scale are:
Books like The Taste Bible, Ratio, The Science of Good Cooking, Steal Like An Artist, Essentialism, Atomic Habits, Revenue First, and The Massive Leap.
Podcasts like The Sassy Solopreneur (which is mine), The Running a blog Millionaire, Meals Blogger Professional, and Eat Weblog Discuss.
The instruments I completely want in my enterprise are:
Google Search Console: This helps me see how my web site is performing and rating on Google. I additionally use this software to see the content material that’s resonating with my viewers and primarily based on that, I create new content material for A Sassy Spoon.
Help System: Entrepreneurship and running a blog is a lonely gig. You want mates. Your loved ones and family members do not actually perceive the ups and downs of working an internet enterprise however your small business and blogger mates do.
I can not emphasize sufficient how essential it’s to search out your individuals.
Mentorship: Perhaps I’m biased however each mentor I’ve had has been an integral a part of my development. Specifically, working with Foodie Digital has been the lifeline I didn’t know I wanted for A Sassy Spoon.
General, I don’t suppose I might’ve grown as a profitable entrepreneur with out having mentors by my facet main the way in which. It has saved me a great deal of time and power and it’s price each penny.
Her Largest Problem
I’d say my largest problem is prioritizing myself and minimizing hustle.
I’ve undoubtedly gotten higher with this, however truthfully, if you love what you do, it’s straightforward to get consumed by all of it.
Typically it’s alright to put within the hours/months/years of exhausting work early on in order that “future you” has the choice to hustle/scale or coast when wanted. There are seasons for each, in any case.
By the years, I’ve realized to provide myself permission to satisfy my large targets with ease and at a sluggish, regular tempo, permitting for relaxation and for making area for myself exterior of the enterprise—one thing I’m undoubtedly prioritizing extra this 12 months.
Her Best Accomplishment
I’ve been in a position to construct a worthwhile enterprise from scratch that’s nonetheless sustainable to at the present time.
I began in 2016 with 0 web page views, 0 followers, 0 e mail subs, 0 all the pieces, and now have a multi-six-figure meals weblog, largely from passive advert income, with the talents to diversify as wanted.
Final 12 months, I reached $1m in general income. An internet site that began in the lounge of my 1-bedroom residence now pays my payments, maxes out my 401k 12 months over 12 months, and affords me the liberty and adaptability I as soon as solely dreamed of whereas caught at a desk in my 9-5 jobs.
What She Needs She Knew When She Began
Wanting again, I want I had gone all-in on the Cuban Delicacies area of interest proper from the beginning as an alternative of enjoying it secure with a broader consolation meals area of interest. I used to be frightened about boxing myself in and was attempting to emulate what the OG bloggers had been doing again then.
Lots of them appeared to flourish protecting a broad spectrum of recipes and life-style matters, or simply specializing in key phrases. I shortly realized that they had the benefit of beginning when there was much less competitors and will get away with having a extra broad focus.
In hindsight, it looks like a targeted area of interest would’ve been my golden ticket to reaching success extra shortly.
Her Major Mistake
I wouldn’t say I’ve made any enormous errors, however one factor I really feel that I ought to’ve carried out sooner is outsource.
Having assist with images, weblog writing, and social promotion actually helps you scale method sooner and frees up your time for extra revenue-generating actions.
Her Recommendation for Different Entrepreneurs
Ensure you are filling a spot out there by showcasing your experience with matters that construct belief, entice the proper viewers, and assist Google perceive who you might be and what you’re an authority in, which is large for search engine optimisation.
Other than that, keep the course, keep in your lane, and don’t evaluate your self to anybody else. Even if you happen to really feel like nothing is occurring, maintain going!!
