811: The Secret to Making Money Beyond Pageviews With Jillian Leslie

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Click here for show notes.

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Megan chats with Pat Flynn about breaking free from information overload, focusing on what matters, and building momentum through experimentation and micro mastery. Pat is a father, husband, and lifelong learner from San Diego known as one of the most trusted voices in digital entrepreneurship. He's the founder of Smart Passive Income, co-creator of the SwitchPod, and host of Deep Pocket Monster on YouTube. Pat inspires millions through his podcasts, communities, and live events like Card Party, all while advising companies and sharing his passion for creativity, connection, and growth. Pat also serves as an advisor to dozens of companies and is a sought-after keynote speaker. In his free time, he enjoys fishing, collecting Pokémon cards, and rewatching the Back to the Future trilogy. Pat shares how to stop drowning in advice and start acting. From his "lean learning" method to daily experiments and micromastery, Pat teaches creators to swap perfectionism for progress. This episode is packed with energy, clarity, and practical strategies for focused, sustainable growth. Key points discussed include: - Information isn't progress: Learn only what you need right now. - Start small and act fast: Progress comes from experiments, not overthinking. - Embrace micromastery: Focus on tiny skills that compound over time. - Repurpose smart: Use your content in multiple formats to reach more people. - Count actions, not likes: Measure consistency, not vanity metrics. - Lean out distractions: Say no joyfully to everything that isn't aligned. - Failure is feedback: Each attempt gets you closer to mastery. - Discipline creates freedom: Systems and batching unlock creative space. Connect with Pat Flynn Website | Instagram

Kat teaches us why meaningful friendships and genuine community have become one of the most valuable assets a food blogger can build. Kat Duncan is the CEO of Honeycomb Media, a women-owned and operated marketing agency that works primarily with food bloggers. She started at Honeycomb in 2020 as a copywriter, later moving into account management, onboarding, and operations before stepping into her current role leading the team. Passionate about marketing and social media from a young age, Kat has spent the past five years helping bloggers grow their online presence. Under her leadership, Honeycomb Media has become especially strong at driving organic traffic for food bloggers. Success in food blogging is about more than SEO and traffic. Kat explains why strong relationships create better businesses, reduce isolation, encourage collaboration, and provide the support every blogger needs to navigate an industry that continues to evolve. Key Topics Discussed: - Build intentional friendships within the blogging community. - Prioritize in person connection whenever possible. - Share knowledge instead of guarding it. - Invest time in nurturing your relationships. - Have the courage to reach out first. - Community creates resilience during industry change. Connect with Kat Duncan Website | Instagram

Megan chats with Jillian Leslie about building digital products that solve real problems, diversify income, and create a more sustainable blogging business. Bio: Jillian Leslie is the founder of MiloTree, a software platform that helps online entrepreneurs sell digital products and services and grow their email lists. On her YouTube channel, she shares cutting-edge strategies for building and selling digital products with AI. Jillian is passionate about helping creators and entrepreneurs build thriving businesses that give them real freedom and flexibility. She lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband and co-founder, David, and their daughter, Lainey. She holds a BA and an MBA from Stanford University. Summary & Takeaways The food blogging landscape is changing quickly, making it more important than ever to build income beyond display ads. Jillian shares practical strategies for identifying what your audience truly needs, creating simple digital products that sell, and using AI to move faster without losing the personal connection that makes your brand valuable. Key Topics Discussed: - Package recipes as solutions instead of collections. - Start with one simple digital product. - Use AI to uncover profitable product ideas. - Build products based on audience feedback. - Show up as a real person to build trust. - Treat your blog like a marketing business. Guest Details Connect with Jillian Leslie Website | Instagram | YouTube

Megan chats to Amy Reid about imposter syndrome, what causes it, how it affects our businesses and how to overcome it. Amy started her blog, Baking with Granny in 2015, as a way to document her mother's (her kids Granny) recipes. Within a couple of years, Amy gave up full-time employment to make money blogging. She then became a single mum and the pressure was on to make it work. 8 years later and Baking with Granny has excelled past any expectations she could have ever had for it. In this episode, Amy shares her journey of dealing with imposter syndrome while trying to make a success out of her blog, including why we may feel like we don't deserve success and tips to overcome imposter syndrome and embrace our full potential. -What is imposter syndrome? -Why do we feel like we don't deserve success? -It may feel like our achievements mean nothing. -How do we overcome feeling like a fraud? -Community is essential in overcoming imposter syndrome. -Recognize the work that goes into blogging. -Fake it until you make it. -Explore deeper than just your work - what other reasons contribute to imposter syndrome? Connect with Amy Reid Website | Instagram

Megan chats with Sandie Markle about why recipes are not showing up on Google, how search behavior is changing, and why structured content matters for the future of food blogging. Sandie Markle is a food tech consultant and content strategist who helps food creators turn their recipes into long-term, reusable assets. With over a decade of experience working with recipe platforms and content teams, she specializes in structured content, discoverability, and content systems. Through her company Blueberri, she supports creators in building content that can be reused, shared, and monetized across platforms. She's currently writing Create Once, Share Everywhere™, a book focused on helping creators build more sustainable content systems. Experienced food bloggers cannot rely on Google traffic alone anymore. In this episode, Sandie explains why recipe content has more value when it is properly structured, organized, and ready for platforms beyond search, including AI tools, meal planning apps, voice assistants, and brand partnerships. Key Topics Discussed: • Structured recipe content creates opportunities beyond Google. • Fill in every useful metadata field in your recipe card. • Your content library should not live only inside WordPress. • Recipe plugins can make your content more valuable to tech partners. • Experiment with new discovery tools before dismissing them. • Learn enough about your tech stack to protect your content value. Resources Create Once, Share Everywhere Early reader contact: [email protected] Guest Details Connect with Sandie Markle Website | Instagram | Facebook