Leveraging social media to grow your audience and building a community through your website with Danny Dobrzenski from Cooking in the Yard.

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Welcome to episode 534 of The Food Blogger Pro Podcast! This week on the podcast, Bjork interviews Danny Dobrzenski from Cooking in the Yard. 

From Pandemic Hobby to Full-Time Hustle with Danny Dobrzenski

In this week’s episode, Bjork interviews Danny Dobrzenski, a food creator who turned a pandemic hobby into a full-time content career. After getting laid off in April 2020, Danny took a leap of faith and leaned into sharing his cooking journey online. With some serious hustle and smart use of platforms like Instagram and Facebook (particularly Facebook!), he built an engaged audience and started landing brand deals that helped turn his passion into a paycheck.

Danny also reveals what it really takes to grow as a creator, from staying consistent with content to learning how to navigate ever-changing social media algorithms. He discusses how delegating and “buying back time” helped him scale and why building a strong creator community is at the heart of everything he does. Now, he’s launching a new project to help other creators do the same: monetize their content and grow with intention!

Three episode takeaways:

• From hobby to full-time hustle: Danny started his food creation journey during the pandemic as a hobby and then grew it into a full-time job (the dream!). He shares how a mix of taking a leap of faith, landing brand deals, and leveraging social media helped him make the transition.
• The power of having “home base”: While social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook are great for reaching new people, Danny stresses the importance of having a central hub, like a website, to drive traffic and build a strong community.
• Helping others win: With his new project, Danny is now focused on helping other creators navigate the tricky world of monetization. He’s passionate about sharing his knowledge and building a supportive community to help others succeed.

Resources:

• Cooking in the Yard
• Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell
• Y Combinator
• Meta Business Suite
• Raptive
• Grocers List
• Pinterest
• YouTube
• The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
• Check out Danny’s latest venture — Trust Me, Try It
• Episode 89 of The Food Blogger Pro podcast: 9 million visitors & 450 contributors: the Story of Her View From Home with Leslie Means
• Follow Danny on Facebook and Instagram
• Be sure to join us for our Live Q&A with Ben Jabbawy from Grocers List happening on Thursday, September 25th!
• Join the Food Blogger Pro Podcast Facebook Group

Thank you to our sponsors!

This episode is sponsored by Yoast and Raptive. Learn more about our sponsors at foodbloggerpro.com/sponsors.

Interested in working with us too? Learn more about our sponsorship opportunities and how to get started here.

If you have any comments, questions, or suggestions for interviews, be sure to email them to podcast@foodbloggerpro.com.

Learn more about joining the Food Blogger Pro community at foodbloggerpro.com/membership.