Case Study👉 How YOU Can Get an Emmy Award and Six-figures/Year From a Food Blog

The Scott Max Newsletter

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Hi 👋, this is the Scott Max newsletter. The daily newsletter bringing you one step closer to your own thriving online business.

We analyze a wonderful, small, online business each week with a full breakdown of how it makes money, why it makes money, and its opportunities to grow. Below that, we give you the action steps to build a business like this to create freedom for yourself.

This is the best way to learn the tactics, skillset, and nuance of making money online.

Let’s get to the good stuff you'll see in this email:

• A food blog generating six figures yearly

• The technique this blog uses to bag lucrative brand sponsorships and an Emmy award

• A framework you can use to achieve similar success.

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The What 🚀

Today, we're diving into the delicious world of an online haven for food lovers and cultural enthusiasts alike.

This vibrant food blog is a treasure trove of mouth-watering recipes, cooking tips, and inspiring stories that celebrate the rich heritage of Mexican & Latin cuisine and culture.

From traditional family recipes to innovative takes on classic dishes, this blog offers a diverse range of culinary delights, travel content, and an Amazon storefront.

Read on to discover what distinguishes this blog from the competition and how it generates its six-figure income.

The How 💻

There are several sources of income for this blog which include:

Monetizing the blog using display ads. This blog partners with Mediavine, a digital advertising network that provides a variety of ad formats, such as display ads, video ads, and sponsored content.

Thanks to its high organic traffic, this blog earns revenue based on the number of ad impressions and clicks generated by the ads.

Mediavine takes care of ad placements and ensures they're relevant to the blog's content and audience while maximizing revenue.

The second revenue source for this blog is brand sponsorships. 

These sponsorships typically involve partnering with companies and promoting or featuring a particular product or service in exchange for compensation.

The business has partnered with notable brands like Toyota, Quaker and Pillsbury among many others.

An additional revenue source is affiliate income through the Amazon storefront on the business website.

The blog earns income by receiving a commission for each sale made through its storefront.

Furthermore, this business earns revenue through affiliate links on its blog by promoting relevant products in articles and receiving a commission on reader purchases.

Since the owner of this blog is a published author, the website is used to promote the published books making it an additional income source.

The books are promoted on the website and sold through various retailers like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

The Why 🔥

There are several reasons why this blog has achieved impressive success including:

High-quality Content

This blog attracts 54k organic traffic monthly thanks to the high-quality content it provides.

The website content ranges from well-written, optimized content to clear images and videos that are both informative and engaging.

The recipes are written in clear and concise language, with step-by-step instructions that are easy to understand.

The blog was awarded an Emmy—in the category: Short Format Program – Informational—for one of its remarkable videos created for the “Day of the Dead Celebration”

Niche Expertise

This blog specializes in Mexican cuisine and culture and has established itself as a go-to resource for anyone interested in this subject matter.

It has built authority in its niche through quality content and published books and has created awareness through strategic partnerships with other brands.

Its expertise has earned it recognition from notable high-profile individuals like Michelle Obama who received a signed copy of one of the published books.

An Effective Content Marketing Strategy

This business leverages content marketing to build engagement, reach new readers, and generate revenue

The content marketing strategy includes a notable social media presence on Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, Facebook & Twitter as well as email marketing, and repurposing content across multiple platforms.

Through this effective strategy, the business has gathered over 30K email subscribers, 3 million + watch time on YouTube and a combined 300K+ followers across other social media platforms.

Website Optimisation

This business has a well-designed website interface that is visually appealing and easy to navigate.

The website design is optimized for user experience, with vibrant eye-catching images that enhance the visual appeal of its content and creates an immersive experience for readers.

The website content is categorized into specific topics which has two advantages.

1. It makes it easy for readers to find relevant content and

2. It helps search engines understand the structure of the website, which can improve its search engine ranking.

The website also features a search bar that makes it more convenient and efficient for readers to find the content they want.

By analyzing the search queries entered into the search bar, the blog can understand what its readers are looking for and adjust its content strategy accordingly.

SEO Best Practices

This blog leverages SEO to drive organic traffic to its website, here’s how:

It targets long-tail keywords with high search volume and low keyword difficulty which enables it to rank on the first page of Google for several search queries.

Focusing on long-tail keywords can attract more targeted traffic to its website, which is more likely to convert into loyal readers and customers.

It also regularly updates old content to keep it relevant and up-to-date which is important because search engines favour fresh and relevant content.

Updating old content signals to search engines that a blog is actively maintaining and improving its website.

Additionally, this website has backlinks from high-authority websites in its niche which are a crucial ranking factor for search engines.

These powerful backlinks help the website to improve its visibility, attract more traffic, and establish itself as a trusted authority.

The Opportunities 🔥🔥🔥

Despite its success, there are several strategies this business can implement to achieve even greater growth and success. They include:

Increase Engagement:

With over 60K followers on Instagram and 21K subscribers on YouTube, this business has on average 3,000 views or less per video.

This is just 3% of the combined followers on these platforms.

In order to increase engagement, the business can make content that aligns with certain viral trends, use enticing strategies like giveaways, build a community and explore paid promotions.

In addition, this business can get more out of Twitter by interacting directly with its audience, through polls or Twitter spaces to get more people engaging with the brand.

Finally, the business should take advantage of TikTok to show off its high-quality video recipes while reaching a wider audience.

Use Strong CTAs:

This food blog can use action-oriented language for its CTAs to encourage users to take specific actions like sharing its content or signing up for its mailing list

These call-to-action prompts need to be placed in prominent locations on the website such as at the end of a blog post, or in the sidebar, to increase the chances of users clicking on them.

The Big Reveal 👀

And now for the exciting reveal, the food blog we analysed today is non-other than Muy Bueno! owned by Yvette Marquez-Sharpnack.

Yvette has always been passionate about celebrating her rich Mexican culture through cooking.

But after losing her grandmother, she realised the need to preserve her valued recipes and family stories which led her to write her first cookbook.

Initially, she started the Muy Bueno blog as an online journal to document the process of writing her cookbook and it turned out to be a hit, leading to two other published books, an Emmy and several brand sponsorships.

In addition to running her blog, she develops recipes, she’s a spokesperson, an on-camera host and an activist, campaigning to ensure that children suffering from hunger in the U.S. have access to healthy food.

The Takeaway, What We Learned 🎓

• Niche passion and expertise are fundamental requirements for the success of any business or blog. They fuel the creation of quality content and help a blog gain recognition by reason of its relevance.

• Adopting best practices for website monetization is rewarding in the long run. This can be done by opting for an ad management platform like Mediavine or partnering with a reliable affiliate network like Amazon.

• High-quality content is beneficial to a blog for increased search engine rankings and is beneficial to a business for reach and recognition like the video that won an Emmy.

• An effective content marketing strategy takes a website’s organic traffic from a spark to a flame. This includes a notable social media strategy, community building and email marketing.

• Brand sponsorships and collaborations are a great source of income for blogs and also serve as a platform to increase awareness and visibility.

• Website optimisation gives visitors a memorable experience and improves a website’s rankings. This ranges from the website interface, and content arrangement to updating content regularly.

• SEO best practices are the backbone of a website’s relevance on Google. Keyword research, content optimization, on-page optimization and a good backlink profile cannot be overlooked.

• Social media should be leveraged for reach and visibility but interaction is important to keep the audience engaged. This enables a business to collect and analyse feedback as well as build a loyal following which fosters growth.

• Use strong CTAs to drive a desired action and optimize these prompts with the right language, placement and personalization.

Action Steps, From Day 0 To ∞ 👩‍💻

So, you will have your own website, hosting account, and a good grasp of digital marketing fundamentals if you are a student/graduate of Max Business School.

If not, get started here, it’s totally free and will teach you all the skills you need to build yourself a business (and the freedom it provides you) similar to the one we’ve analyzed today.

Day 0

You’ve read this email and love this particular business model and/or niche.

If not, we'll be sending more ideas in our next email or check our archive here.

If yes;

Consider if this is a business you can happily commit to for 3-5 years?

If yes;

Is it a customer/topic/day-to-day activity you can't get passionate about?

If yes;

Would starting this business cause you to lose focus on the business that you are currently building?

If yes, don’t do it.

Focus on building what you have and take lessons from my analysis above to implement them into your current business.

But if not, then move to day 1.

Day 1

• Identify Your Target Niche: The first step is to identify the niche you want to target. This could be a specific cuisine, dietary preference, or cooking style. It's important to choose a niche that you are passionate about and that has a viable audience

• Conduct Market Research: Once you have identified your target niche, conduct market research to understand the competition, audience, and trends in the space. Use Ahrefs to identify the top content that resonates with your target audience and analyze your competitors to find existing gaps.

• Develop a Comprehensive Business Plan: A comprehensive business plan should include your mission statement, target audience, content strategy, monetization strategy, and budget. This will help you stay focused and organized as you build your blog.

• Select a Suitable Business Name: Choose a name that is memorable, easy to spell, and reflective of your brand identity. Consider checking if the domain name is available and securing it as soon as possible.

• Choose a Domain Name and Establish a Hosting Account: Pick a domain name that matches your business name and opt for a good hosting provider. Dreamhost is a reputable and reliable hosting provider that offers affordable plans and excellent customer support.

• Create Social Media Profiles: Social media is a powerful tool for promoting your blog and engaging with your audience. Reserve your brand name on popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to establish a consistent online presence.

• Initiate the Website-Building Process: Choose a content management system (CMS) such as WordPress and start building your website. It should be responsive and intuitive with a clean interface. Consider taking our course which will guide you if you have no experience building a website.

Day 2

• Plan Your Content Strategy: Develop a content strategy based on keyword research that includes topics, formats, and publishing schedules. Know your target audience's needs and interests by using research tools like Ahrefs and aim to provide high-quality, informative, and engaging content.

• Begin Creating Content Based on Your Content Strategy. Make sure to create high-quality, engaging, and informative content that resonates with your target audience. Identify their pain points and create content that addresses such issues. Write clear copies, use storytelling and provide utility for readers. Invest in quality eye-catching images or videos and well-written content. We recommend Closercopy to aid your content writing process.

• Optimize Your Website for Better Search Engine Rankings: Optimize your website's technical aspects, such as page speed, mobile-friendliness, and website architecture. Also, optimize your content for search engines by including relevant keywords, meta tags, and internal linking.

• Track Performance Metrics: Use analytics tools like Google Analytics and Ahrefs to track the performance of your website and content. Use this data to optimize your marketing campaigns and improve your content strategy over time.

Day 3 to ∞

• Establish a content calendar for organized content creation: Develop a content calendar to plan and organize your content creation efforts. This can help you ensure that you are consistently publishing high-quality content that resonates with your audience.

• Develop monetization strategies for your website: Explore different monetization strategies for your website, such as affiliate marketing, sponsored content, and advertising. Choose strategies that align with your brand and provide value to your audience.

• Actively engage with communities relevant to your niche: Participate in online communities and forums related to your niche. This can help you build relationships with other bloggers and influencers in your industry, as well as attract new readers to your blog.

• Stay updated with industry news and trends: Read industry blogs and attend relevant conferences to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices in your industry.

• Foster meaningful interactions with your audience: Encourage your audience to engage with your content by asking for feedback and responding to comments and messages. This can help you build trust and loyalty with your audience.

• Plan for future growth: Continuously refine your content strategy and business plan based on feedback and evolving market dynamics. Set goals for growth and develop a plan to achieve them.

• Evaluate and update strategies as needed: Continuously evaluate the effectiveness of your strategies and adjust them as needed. This can help you stay ahead of the competition and adapt to changing market conditions.

• Build and nurture a community to enhance trust and brand awareness: Build a community on YouTube or through an email list and encourage your readers to share your content and engage with your brand on social media. This can help you build a community around your brand and enhance brand awareness.

Before You Go 👋

Thank you for reading.

In my next email, I’ll have another business breakdown for you.

Remember, if you know someone who might like this newsletter, sharing is caring.

If you are ready to get started with your own business, one of the first steps is always a website. Click here for our exclusive hosting deal and click here for an invite to our Max Business School community where you’ll hang out with thousands of fellow ambitious business builders.

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Bye for now,

Scott Max