Australia's most successful food blogger and one of The Insiders Agency's top influencers, Nagi from RecipeTin Eats, shares her insights into how she turned her recipe blog into a six figure business.

1. Nagifrom RecipeTin Eats
Trust, influence and building Australia #1 food blog

2. Nagi Maehashi: Who Am I?
• Cook, voice and photographer
behind RecipeTin Eats food blog
• Started in May 2014
• #1 food blog in Australia
• #2 recipe site, after taste.com.au
• 1.5 million+ monthly readers
with 2.5-3 million page views
• Forecast to hit 4m in Jan 2017
• 10% Australia

3. A Bit About Me
• Born in Japan, raised in
Sydney Australia
• Food obsessed family
• “Big 4” accounting firm straight
out of high school
• University and post grad
degree part time (finance)
• Pursued career in Corporate
Finance
• Climbed corporate ladder
• Had epiphany and decided to
leave Corporate

4. What I Actually Do
• Create recipes, photograph, create
videos and write posts for
RecipeTin Eats
• Interact with readers
• Super Food Ideas monthly feature
• Clients both on and off my blog as
an Influencer, photographer and
recipe developer
• Create eBooks for sale to readers
• Food blogging advice
• Food blogging groups
• US Conferences
• Keeping “up to speed” with
industry trends - food, blogging &
social media

5. My Previous Blogging Experience
• ZERO
• Barely knew what a blog was
• Zero tech / website experience
• Never used a proper camera
before
“You’re nuts”
“When are you coming
back to work?”

6. How I Did It
• Started with deliberate intention of
making a full time living from my
blog
• Business approach fuelled by
passion for food and sharing
• Very clear business plan and
strategy
• Knew cooking would be a small
part of what I would do
• Invested enormous time
developing new skills
• I blog for my readers: New
readers come, they stay

7. Why I Love What I Do
• More than about love of food
and earning an income
• Cooking (& eating) = 5% of
what I do. Easiest part!
• Truly love sharing recipes and
getting people excited about
food - always have
• Genuinely enjoy helping people
cook better
• The business and strategy side
• The challenges, the ever
changing environment, the
continuous improvement

8. The Food I Share
• Made from scratch
• Healthy-ish: I very rarely deep
fry, don’t use tubs of cream
• Never bland, never flat tasting
• Classics done right
• Focus on comfort foods
• Regular stream of Asian food
• Genius techniques - inventions +
known
• Unique creations
• Less salads than I should have

9. My Unique Angle: Trust & Community
I’m a trusted friend
• I truly give a damn about my
readers
• Respond to every comment on my
blog and (try) every email
• My rule: There is no such thing
as a stupid question
• Readers help each other
• Consistency - I’ve been doing this
since the very beginning
• Invest 6+ hours each week
interacting with readers solely on
my blog

10. Trust & Community (cont’d)
Readers trust my recipes
• I’m not a Chef, but I’m a good
cook
• I know a lot more about cooking
than the average food blogger
• Genuinely interested in cooking
and am constantly learning
• Saturated blogging industry =
increasing number of bloggers
focussed on pretty photos + “viral
potential” recipes
• My focus: expertise, quality and
creativity

11. Trust & Community (cont’d)
My food tastes even
better than it looks
• Every recipe works. I live in fear
of recipes that fail due to an error
on my part.
• Test repeatedly
• “Palette” bar is high - no flat
tasting food on my site, no trends
for the sake of it
• It’s not just about pretty photos -
I’m the reverse: taste first, pretty
photos a distant 2nd
• Clearly written with step photos
and/or videos

12. Trust & Community (cont’d)
I Blog For My Readers
• Every recipe I post, I choose for
my readers
• Variety, seasonal, health,
ingredients
• Create seasonal recipe collections
• Write recipes for my audience -
easy enough for learners,
professional enough for the more
experienced
• Identify the “risk” areas in recipes
and provide helpful notes, provide
substitutions where possible

13. Working With Brands
• My readers LOVE my sponsored
posts - because I always make it
something special
• Genuine enjoyment of the
challenge and bringing something
new to my readers
• Truly picky about which brands I
work with
• Worked too hard to gain reader
trust, will not compromise
• Waited 18 months before my first
sponsored post
• Focussed on building
readership base and trust first

14. Successful Campaigns
• Focus on client brief / objective
• Brainstorm for ideas that will fit
client objectives and maximum
results through my readership and
influence
• Different ways to deliver
successful campaigns:
• Social media focus
• SEO
• Connection with readers
• Focus on perpetual performance,
not just short term
• Always authentic, always organic
integration

15. Example: Pinnacle Wines

16. Example: Aussie Lamb

17. Example: Vitamix

18. Example: Chasseur

19. Example: Murray Valley Pork

20. Example: Aussie Mangoes

21. Questions?
www.recipetineats.com