Top 10 Resource Guide for Food Bloggers

Resources for food bloggers… I love to cook, but have a lot more enthusiasm and creativity than I do actual skill, so not everything I attempt is exactly successful. But – blogging, just like life, is a constant work in progress, right? If you’re working on your food blogging skills in 2013 too – I hope you find something in this resource list helpful!

A little “Hey Girl” Ryan Gosling humor…

I’m not sure who to credit this graphic, but I found it on Confessions of a Cookbook Queen, and it totally cracked me up. Anyway… Back to business. {The internet is such a distracting place to work sometimes. Like being in an office full of hot guys, cute kittens, and sparkly things around every corner…} Whether you’re a total foodie blogger ninja already, and just and looking for a few new places to promote your posts, or you’re like me and wanting to learn some new skills to improve your cooking and photography – This list has a little of everything. Hope you find some of it helpful!

• 1. Recipe Plugins: I use the Ziplist plug in already, but didn’t know it could be combined like this – Such a smart idea for making your recipes more searchable, printable, and just plain cooler. Learn more about WordPress Recipe Plugins.
• 2. Link ’em Up: Share your favorite recipes of the week on the What’s Cooking Wednesday link up, and check the “Homemakers and DIY” section in the Bloggertunities post today for some additional linkys your recipes fight fit into.
• 3. BlogHer Food: Have you bought your tickets to this conference in Austin, TX, this June? I’m almost sure I’ll be attending  – even though this is a bit out of my comfort zone! But, I do love to cook, and am excited to learn some totally new tips and info. Check it out: BlogHer Food 2013.
• 4. Food Blogging for Dummies: I’ve read the Pinterest for Dummies, and WordPress for Dummies, and found TONS of great tips in both. This is next on my list – Food Blogging For Dummies. I’ve heard really good things.
• 5. Money Making: This is a really cool feature – Each month, this site posts a break down of how much they earned, from where, plus a listing and breakdown of their traffic stats. On my new blogging tips site I’ll be starting soon, I’m considering doing a monthly post like this too – {even though my numbers will be significantly lower, lol} – I’d love to hear what you think. Helpful? Tacky? Braggy? Silly looking on slow months? Leave me a comment with your thoughts….
• 6. Food Styling Tips: This is a really good post – it’s got a ton of examples of great ideas on how to style your photos, questions to ask yourself when setting the mood, and more. Food & prop styling tips for bloggers and photographers.
• 7. More photo tips: This is another great post with some ideas on improving your food photography – Which I think is one of the toughest things to take pics of! She shows some great examples of how lighting dramatically changes things, and offers some good tips to keep in mind.
• 8. Google+: This is a really thorough post – The Food Bloggers Guide to Google+, that has great tips anyone can use, no matter what type of blog you have. I’m working on cleaning up and maximizing my LinkedIn and Google+ accounts this month, so I’ll be using this to help.
• 9. ProFoodBlogger: This is SO full of cool info. I recently signed up for their emails, and learn a ton in every single one. Totally recommend checking out ProFoodBlogger – and at least following via Facebook or Twitter to get their tips.
• 10: Tech Help: If you do any cooking while using tech in the kitchen {and of course you do!} this is crazy-helpful – the Belkin Kitchen Stand and Wand for Tablets. I use it to hold my Kindle, and the stylus makes sure I don’t get messy fingers all over my screen!

There you have it – My top 10 resources to help you get cookin’ in 2013! Some of these I’ve already read, used, implemented – some are on my current to-do list. I hope you find something to help get you excited for Rocking YOUR Blog in the new year too!