NJCS 09: Food Blogger Makes 6-Figures Using SEO & Keyword Research | From CPA to Full-Time Creator

John Bertino • November 11, 2025

Food Blogger Makes 6-Figures Using SEO & Keyword Research

Food Blogger Makes 6-Figures Using SEO & Keyword Research | From CPA to Full-Time Creator

Michele Di Pietro, founder of Mangia with Michele @mangiawithmichele, is a culinary professional turned full-time food blogger and content creator specializing in Italian and Italian American cuisine. After a long career in food service and culinary direction, Michele launched her brand in 2017 on Instagram, posting recipes and engaging with the community, which quickly grew.


The COVID-19 lockdown proved pivotal, as she authored her cookbook “Soupified” and later launched a well-structured website in 2021, which became her primary monetization hub. 


Michele emphasizes the importance of combining culinary expertise with digital marketing, SEO, and community engagement to build a sustainable brand. She shares insights on content creation, SEO strategy, email marketing, monetization via Mediavine ads, sponsored brand deals, and the challenges of balancing creative work with the technical and time-consuming aspects of blogging.


Despite occasional criticism from Italian food purists, Michele’s authenticity, warm connection with her audience, and continual learning in marketing and AI tools have propelled her success. She plans to expand her video content, podcasting, and product offerings while maintaining a strong community focus.

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Michele Di Pietro, founder of Mangia with Michele @mangiawithmichele, is a culinary professional turned full-time food blogger and content creator specializing in Italian and Italian-American cuisine.


After a long career in food service and culinary direction, Michele launched her brand in 2017 on Instagram, posting recipes and engaging with the community, which quickly grew. The COVID-19 lockdown proved pivotal, as she authored her cookbook “Soupified” and later launched a well-structured website in 2021, which became her primary monetization hub.


Michele emphasizes the importance of combining culinary expertise with digital marketing, SEO, and community engagement to build a sustainable brand. She shares insights on content creation, SEO strategy, email marketing, monetization via Mediavine ads, sponsored brand deals, and the challenges of balancing creative work with the technical and time-consuming aspects of blogging.


Despite occasional criticism from Italian food purists, Michele’s authenticity, warm connection with her audience, and continual learning in marketing and AI tools have propelled her success. She plans to expand her video content, podcasting, and product offerings while maintaining a strong community focus.


KEY PARTS OF THE CONVERSATION:


00:00:00 - Intro "Mangia with Michele"

Michele opens with her mission statement about inspiring people to cook and enjoy Italian and Italian American flavors


00:01:24 - Formal Guest Introduction & Studio

Welcome John and Steven formally introduce Michele Di Pietro to the NJ Content Studio show


00:02:38 - Career Background: From Culinary Training to CPA Auditor

Michele reveals her journey as a culinary-trained professional who transitioned into accounting and CPA auditing


00:06:18 - NYC to New Jersey: Professional Transitions

Michele discusses her five years in New York City and her career path


00:08:00 - Transition from Operations to Content Creator

Michele explains how she started in operations before pivoting to full-time content creation


00:09:37 - Vision: Working with Brands in the Food Space

Michele shares her early ambition to work with food brands and grow through collaborations


00:10:29 - Launch Date: November 2017 Instagram & Blog Launch

Michele reveals she officially launched her Instagram platform and blog in November 2017


00:16:59 - Authenticity vs. AI Content: Differentiating Strategy

Michele discusses how authentic, original content differentiates her brand from AI-generated food content


00:19:30 - Cookbook Launch: "First Came the Cookbook in 2020"

Michele discusses her cookbook launch in 2020, which started as a lockdown project


00:20:46 - SEO Breakthrough: Learning Keyword Research

Michele's turning point—learning SEO and keyword research despite having no prior knowledge


00:22:41 - Food Photography Process: Shooting Everything with iPhone

Michele explains how all her recipe photography is shot using her iPhone


00:31:09 - Pinterest Strategy: "Pinterest is a Huge Opportunity"

Michele reveals how Pinterest became her biggest traffic driver for organic discovery


00:41:43 - Host Question: "What About AI?"

John pivots to an important topic—Michele shares her perspective on AI for content creation


00:41:55 - AI for Food Bloggers: Course Purchase & Strategy

Michele discusses purchasing an AI course specifically designed for food bloggers and how it fits her business


00:42:00 - AI Use Case: Updating Old Blog Posts

Michele explains her primary AI use case: using prompts to identify and update underperforming older blog posts


00:42:29 - Using AI Prompts: Best Practices for Recipe Content

Michele reveals how AI prompts will help her, especially with supplementary information in recipe posts


00:43:01 - The Key Rule: "Supplement with AI, Don't Replace with AI"

Michele and hosts emphasize the critical difference—AI assists but never replaces her personal, detailed approach


00:44:47 - Monetization Milestone: Goal to Join Mediavine

Michele discusses her goal and achievement of joining Mediavine for ad revenue


01:04:41 - Building Community & Future Vision

Michele emphasizes the importance of building community and shares her vision for future projects


01:08:40 - Closing Remarks & Call to Action

Final wrap-up with Michele sharing where listeners can find "Mangia with Michele" online


Highlights


  • 🍝 Michele transitioned from a culinary director to a full-time food blogger specializing in Italian cuisine
  • 📈 Instagram was Michele’s launchpad, but her website became the primary revenue source
  • 📚 During the COVID lockdown, she wrote and self-published the cookbook “Soupified”
  • 🔍 SEO and keyword research play a critical role in her content strategy and discovery
  • 💰 Monetization primarily comes from Mediavine ad management, supplemented by brand partnerships and affiliate income
  • 📧 Growing an email list using tools like Flowdesk and Grocer’s List is key to building direct audience connections

About the Show and Our Expert Guest:


NJ Content Studio


For start-ups, creators, entrepreneurs, and business owners looking to grow your business and amplify your voice, NJ Content Studio exists for you. With hosts John Bertino and Steven Picanza!


Michele Di Pietro


Michele is a professionally trained chef, culinary consultant, cookbook author, food writer and the founder and chief (only) recipe developer behind her website, Mangia with Michele.


She is also a proud Italian American, Georgetown grad, former Certified Public Accountant and sassy Jersey girl that recently returned to her old stomping grounds after years of living in New York City, Washington, DC and Geneva, Switzerland.


Michele Di Pietro



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What Creators Can Learn From Jacob Does Philly

By Steven Picanza • April 1, 2026
When we sat down with Jacob Fink, the creator behind Jacob Does Philly , we weren’t just talking about cheesesteaks and brunch spots. We were talking about systems. About geo-specificity. About turning a hobby into a business without losing the love for it. Because Jacob didn’t start with a master plan, he started because he was bored and new to the city. He kept hearing, “You’ve gotta check this out. You’ve gotta try that.” So he picked up a camera. Two birds. One stone. Explore the city. Record it. Here’s what creators can learn from how he turned that into something real. Local Is a Strategy, Not a Limitation A lot of creators think “local” means small, but Jacob treats it like leverage. Geo-specificity is HUGE for him. He’s not trying to go viral with a generic “Top 10 Burgers reel.” He’s posting: New openings in Philly Neighborhood-specific recs Restaurants people can actually walk into tonight That specificity creates intent, and intent converts. If you’re building in: A city A niche industry A specific audience segment Stop apologizing for it. Local doesn’t cap you, it compounds you. Short-Form Is a System Jacob’s not winging it. For a typical 3-minute piece, he’ll spend: 30–45 minutes planning 60 minutes recording 15–20 minutes editing That’s structure. But he keeps the location flexible. The food drives the opportunity. This is a huge distinction: Spontaneous energy mixed with structured execution. If you’re posting 5–6 times per week as he does, you can’t rely on vibes; you need a repeatable format. Native Tools > Fancy Tools Jacob records natively in TikTok and actually prefers TikTok’s editing timeline over CapCut. That’s important. Creators obsess over: Cameras Lenses Plugins Meanwhile, he’s proving that native tools are often enough. Distribution > production value. If the platform wants the content, it doesn’t care how expensive your software is. Brand Deals Are a Discipline Jacob limits paid ads to 3–4 per month because he refuses to let paid content crowd out organic content. That’s long-term thinking. He also, and take notes creators... Upsells one-off videos into 3-piece packages Actively reaches out to brands he likes Sends pre-canned scripts to initiate partnerships That’s not influencer behavior. That’s operator behavior. And here’s a big one... He never did paid amplification. For him, organic traction is a signal. Bots and forced reach are noise. Your Page Is Your Media Kit Jacob had a media kit. Once. He doesn’t really use it anymore. Why? Because engagement metrics change constantly and his page does the selling for him. If your profile doesn’t clearly communicate: Your niche Your consistency Your quality Your audience No PDF deck is going to save you. But all that said, I still think media kits are important. Switch It Up, On Purpose One of the smartest insights from the episode is that he intentionally mixes things up about 15% of the time. Familiarity builds trust. Deviation builds intrigue. His “Boner Forever” building video massively outperformed his usual content. It wasn’t food. It wasn’t typical. It was strategic deviation. Creators burn out when they repeat without variation. Creators plateau when they experiment without structure. The sweet spot is both. Movement Is a Hook Watch Jacob’s videos carefully. He’s always moving... Head tilts. Finger gestures. Camera movement on location. It’s subtle, but it holds attention. He also deliberately says: “Follow for more Philly food content” early. That’s not accidental. It’s conditioning. Hooks aren’t just what you say. They’re how you move. The Bigger Lesson Jacob isn’t the stereotypical Philly guy. First off, he's from Long Island. He had imposter syndrome early on, but he powered through. He didn’t wait to feel like an authority. He let consistency build authority for him. If you zoom out, his growth comes down to five things: Pick a lane. Build a repeatable format. Post consistently. Protect the ratio of organic to paid. Turn audience into assets, not just views. Food reels are easy. Building a local-first, ops-driven, event-backed, consulting-ready media brand is not. That’s the difference. If you’re a local creator trying to grow, this episode is mandatory. And if you’re a business thinking you need to “become a creator,” maybe the better question is: Do you need to be the face? Or do you need someone who already owns the feed? Watch the full episode on our YouTube channel .

NJCS 15: Jacob Does Philly - Interview: Bored, Then Built This

By Producer NJCS • March 26, 2026
Is Philly's food good enough to convince a New York transplant to stick around?! Of course it is! On this week's episode of The Creators Show, the guys sit down with Jacob of Jacob Does Philly to talk about his passion for food, his love of Philly culture and how he grew into a massively successful and entertaining creator who perfectly embodies what so many people already love about Philadelphia! With hosts John Bertino and Steven Picanza, and special guest Jacob Fink!

What Creators Can Learn From Minnow Pond

By Steven Picanza • March 6, 2026
When we sat down with Chris Reck of Minnow Pond , we weren’t just talking about tarot; we were talking about systems. About search. About retention. About what it actually takes to build a channel that feeds itself. Chris has been on YouTube for nearly a decade. For the first four years, he was stuck at 40,000 subscribers. Then something shifted. He stopped “making videos” and started building a machine. If you're a creator trying to grow, here are the real lessons. Stop Chasing Viral. Start Owning Search. Most creators build for the feed. Chris built for the search bar. Instead of hoping a video hits the algorithm lottery, he leaned into programmatic content. Daily and weekly readings for all 12 zodiac signs. Predictable. Repeatable. Searchable. People aren’t scrolling aimlessly. They're searching. “Aries January 2026” “Gemini weekly tarot” “Scorpio love reading” That’s intent. That’s qualified traffic. If you’re in fitness, finance, real estate, B2B marketing, parenting, or literally anything else, ask yourself: What is the thing people are already searching for, consistently, every month? Build around that. Specific Titles Win. Chris is obsessive about titles. Not clever. Not vague. Not poetic. Specific . He makes sure the title connects directly to the first few minutes of the video so viewers instantly feel they’re “in the right place.” That’s not clickbait. That’s alignment. He even openly acknowledges that negative titles often perform better. But the key is this... Clickbait is fine… if it delivers. The real metric isn’t clicks. It’s view duration. Retention Is Everything. When we dug into metrics, Chris didn’t hesitate. Average View Duration is king. Here’s how he keeps people watching: Great storytelling Getting to the point fast Not jumping around too much Episode Outline - Chris Reck Mi… He structures his videos around clarity and pace. No 90-second cinematic intro (although we sure love ours) No rambling. No fluff. Just signal. And here’s the interesting part: He believes calm content can outperform loud content. In a world of over-edited, dopamine-spiked, hyperactive videos, consistency and trust become the hook. Volume Doesn’t Mean Chaos. Chris publishes at a pace that would break most creators. Four videos per day at times. One take. Back-to-back. He even switches live using an ATEM mini to reduce post-production. But here’s the nuance: High volume only works when the format is locked in. He’s not reinventing the wheel each upload, he’s executing a repeatable system. That’s the difference between burnout and leverage. Monetization Isn’t What You Think. Chris doesn’t rely on brand deals. In fact, he believes brand deals often hurt growth if they’re not native and intentional. Instead, he monetizes primarily through: Long-form AdSense Digital education products A private mastermind-style community He pivoted away from trading time for money and into scalable education. That shift, operationally, is what separates creators from founders. AI Is a Tool. Not a Crutch. Chris does not use AI to write titles. He believes over-reliance will become a competitive disadvantage. But he does use AI to identify compelling moments in transcripts. That’s the sweet spot. Human intuition mixed with machine acceleration because creators who outsource thinking to AI will flatten. Creators who use AI to amplify thinking will compound. If He Started Today… One of the most powerful moments in the episode was this: If he were starting from zero, he wouldn’t chase trends. He would lock in a format. Build searchable content. Post consistently, and focus on titles before anything else. Not gear. Not viral editing. Not cinematic thumbnails. Just clarity and repetition. The Bigger Takeaway Chris Reck isn’t just a tarot reader. He’s running a vertically integrated media company built on: Search intent High retention Community identity Scalable monetization Sustainable systems The spiritual niche just happens to be his vehicle. And the unlock is that this strategy works anywhere. If you’re a creator stuck under 10,000 subscribers, ask yourself: Are you building art? Or are you building architecture? Because growth doesn’t come from inspiration. It comes from infrastructure. ✌️🍕 Watch the full episode of The Creator Show with Chris Reck from Minnow Pond on our YouTube Channel. Check out our past episodes with Like Father Like Son Cards & Breaks , The Philly Sports Guy , and Mangia with Michelle .
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