Nagi from RecipeTin EatsTrust, influence and building Australia #1 food blog

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

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

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

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?”

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

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

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

My Unique Angle: Trust & CommunityI’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

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

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

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

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

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

Example: Pinnacle Wines

Example: Aussie Lamb

Example: Vitamix

Example: Chasseur

Example: Murray Valley Pork

Example: Aussie Mangoes

Questions?

www.recipetineats.com