How to Decide Which Big Investments Are Right for Your Food Blog

There are so many ways to invest in your food blog. A new website. A logo. An SEO audit. A course, a mastermind, a VA, a better camera lens.

Every one of them promises to help you grow, and it can be really hard to know when the time is right to make the leap.

If you’ve been staring at a big decision and feeling stuck, you’re not alone. The good news is that you don’t have to guess. You just need a process for evaluating where your business is right now, so you can make a plan based on what is most urgent and most important.

Here’s the five-step process we walk food bloggers through.

Step 1: Look at your business as a whole

Before you spend a dime, take a step back and answer three questions.

What is your biggest struggle right now? If you’re working to build enough traffic to qualify for an ad network, your best investment will look very different from someone who wants to build a personal brand on a bigger stage or market a cookbook.

Where are you being held back from growing? Many of our clients tell us their current website is the thing holding them back. They can’t update their homepage, they can’t sell a product, or they can’t represent their brand in a way that feels professional. Try this: if you could wave a magic wand and have exactly what you need to grow, what would it be?

What is not working right now? Sometimes we’re drawn to an investment because it sounds fun or because everyone else is doing it. Try to be objective here. The best investment is often fixing a broken part of your business, like a clunky process or a tool that isn’t doing its job.

Those three answers give you clarity on which bucket your investment belongs in, whether that’s a course, a mastermind, a service, or something else entirely.

Step 2: Decide where you want to go next

Once you know what’s holding you back, think about where you’re headed.

• Want to photograph a cookbook but feel unsure about your photography? A photography course, mentorship, or new lens may serve you better than an SEO course.
• Want more traffic? An SEO course or an expert to help may be the right fit.
• Want to spend less time working on your blog? It may be time to hire a specialist or a VA.
• Want to grow your email list but can’t edit your homepage? A website redesign and branding could give you the clarity and the tools to make it happen.

Step 3: Check your capacity

This one gets skipped a lot, and it matters.

Almost every big investment takes effort from you. If you hire a designer, you’ll need to do some homework so they understand your audience and can build a strategy around it. If you join a coaching program, you’ll need to show up for the calls and do the work.

The worst outcome is investing in something wonderful and not having the time to get the most out of it. So think honestly about your current season of life and your current season of business before you commit.

Step 4: Look at the money from both sides

There is a limit to what you can afford, and it’s smart to be realistic. If it’s a big investment, think about how many months of revenue it would take to cover it.

If the numbers don’t work yet, ask yourself what you could do to get there. We do this in everyday life. If you want something, you save for it or sell a few things to cover it. Business can work the same way. Maybe that’s taking on a few extra sponsored posts or photography jobs, or temporarily trimming other expenses. If something is truly important for the growth of your blog, you can get scrappy about making it happen. (Just don’t go into debt or spend unwisely to do it.)

Then flip the question around: can you afford not to make this investment?

If your page speed is failing, putting off an update could cost you rankings on your top posts. On the other hand, a new lens that won’t change what your blog earns can probably wait while you fix the problems on your site first.

And if your blog isn’t making money yet? That doesn’t mean investing in it is a waste. Plenty of bloggers wish they had started with a good hosting company, a stable theme, an SEO audit, or a logo sooner, so they could have seen the results sooner. You don’t have to go all in. A few smart foundational choices go a long way.

Step 5: Decide what’s a “now” and what’s a “someday”

Grab your notes app or a notebook and write down every investment you’re considering. Sometime this week, once you’ve had time to think it over, sort them into two lists: what you can move forward with now, and what goes on a someday list.

It’s okay to want something and still say “not yet.” Put a reminder on your calendar to revisit the someday list at the end of next quarter and ask whether it’s time.

It’s okay to invest in your business

When a big investment comes up, our brains can go into fight or flight mode and tell us all the reasons we can’t. A little caution is healthy, but sometimes it’s worth trusting your gut when it tells you something is right.

It’s okay to invest in your business, and it’s okay to say “not right now.” Not every investment works out. In the past, I’ve hired help that turned out to be the wrong fit, and it’s part of the journey. But the investments that do work can open doors you didn’t know were possible.

Whichever side you land on, we hope this gives you the permission you needed.

Ready to talk about your website or brand?

If your biggest struggle is a website that has been holding your blog back, or a brand that no longer reflects where your business is headed, we’d love to chat. We help food bloggers catch their website and brand up to the business they’ve built. Book a call and tell me about your blog!