It's been a long time since we've done an episode of Health Bloggers Dish, the series where Health Blog Helper interviews a top blogger in the food and fitness niche. In an interview that was started a while ago but only recently completed, Alison and I interviewed Cory from ZestyCook.com. (You might know him simply as "Zesty"!)
Cory has one of the most-professional looking blogs around—if you think all blogs look the same, it's worth looking at Cory's site just to see what's possible. And through his design service, Zesty Blog Consulting, he's helped lots of artistically-challenged bloggers make that crucial first impression a whole lot better.
In our interview, Zesty shares lots of practical advice for new bloggers while relating his personal experiences. Read on to see what goes on behind the scenes at one of our niche's best-looking blogs.
How long have you been blogging?
I have been blogging since August 2008.
How much time do you spend devoted to your blog each day?
2-3 hours on average.
What was one of the earliest lessons you learned about blogging?
Write for the future readers and not the ones of today! The content will be there forever.
You help a lot of bloggers with their site design. Do you think a good layout and attractive design plays a large part in the success of a blog?
Yes – you have about 2-3 seconds to capture the audience's eye – so you have to make the best of it. Visually appealing sites will retract readers and grow faster especially if the content is easily accessible.
I've seen several blogs that say they were designed by your service, Zesty Blog Consulting. ZestyCooks.com is beautiful; do you use one of the premium DIY themes like Thesis or Headway? Or is that entirely your own design?
For Zesty, I use a base theme from WooThemes and then I have fully customized it to my liking. Zesty will be under-going another large overhaul in the coming months and I may be looking at Thesis as my option.
Do you offer full design services to clients, or do they need to use one of the customizable premium themes?
For zesty clients, I offer both types of services. They can choose a free theme of their choice and I will make any customizations they want or they can purchase a premium theme and I will customize that theme to meet their needs as well.
Your free ebook is featured prominently on your site, offered in exchange for subscription by email. Do you use that list strictly to send blog posts via email, or do you provide additional email-only content and offers?
I created the free ebook to offer a value to my readers that I already had as well as to encourage people to sign up for the new content through posting. The only avenue I use at this point is strictly an RSS feed to allow readers to receive my posts via email or their reader.
Do you have any advice for bloggers looking to develop a product they can offer for sale or to attract new subscribers?
As far as advice, I feel the most important model for any blog is "VALUE." Think to yourself, "What value are you adding to the reader?" Content is king and everything else will fall into place. Focus on your writing and have a clean design with easy to access information and you will be off to a great start.
How long should a blogger wait before they decide to self-host or otherwise invest money in their site?
I am of the opinion of "Do it right the first time." Go self-hosted off the bat and start growing from day one. The last thing you want to do is pigeon hole yourself and limit yourself from day one. Go big or stay home.
Do you have a favorite promotional tool or technique?
This question is tricky. Social media can play a big part in one's ability to grow their site to a broader audience. A more traditional tool is the old "word of mouth." There has to be a balance between both but I feel the most solid technique to get your name out there is to guest post on blogs that are bigger than yourself.
How long were you blogging before you felt like you had a solid readership base?
I would say 6-8 months and then I realized that people were actually reading my blog. It was definitely exciting.
Have you made any mistakes along the way?
Of course I did. The one mistake I made early on was inconsistent posting times. The whole key to capturing an audience is to be consistent in your delivery. From that point on – I always focus on posting the same times each day of the week to ensure the readers get to see zesty when they expect and want to.
If someone asked you about starting a blog, what's the first piece of advice you might give them?
Make sure you love it and want to do it for fun and enjoyment. If you are just doing it for the money, I believe you will fail. You need to have a passion for blogging and sharing value with people around the world.
Has it been worth it?
Most definitely. Zesty is a big part of my life!
If you were locked in a grocery store over night, which section would you sleep in and why?
This is an easy one. THE BAKERY!! I love bread and everything about it. I may even use a huge loaf of sour dough bread as a pillow while I am stranded.
Big thanks to Cory for taking the time to answer our questions. Look for another interview soon!
Great interview. I love Zesty's blog and how professional it looks. Awesome tip about writing for your future readers because it really does stay around forever. Sometimes I cringe at some of my old content but you live and learn, I guess. Now days, I am very proud of my content and have recently overhauled my design as well and have seen a great improvement in my readership.
As always, thanks for the great advice!
Christie, don't worry, you're not alone. I think a lot of my old content SUCKS! I've wondered what deleting it would do for search engine optimization, since it probably dilutes my site's content by being about nothing in particular. But I can't bring myself to do it. I like seeing how young and foolish I was.
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