Welcome to The Weekly Recap! A lite Sunday read about my life and food. This email is free and if you are not currently receiving them in your inbox, click that subscribe button below.
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The topic of today’s newsletter is all about supporting creators and organic growth. Other ways to support this newsletter are by liking, commenting, and sharing. Activity helps overall exposure and a little goes a long way. ❤️
Before we jump into today’s topic I need to share about my newfound love for cabbage with you. A few weeks ago I picked up a head of napa cabbage with the intention of making kimchi from May’s cookbook, Pickled. I currently have three different jars of kimchi in the fridge and decided against making another gallon of it. I sat around with this cabbage in my fridge for a few weeks trying to decide what to do with it. Marco is technically allergic to cabbage and I truthfully never really eat it. My love for kimchi is new and I have always liked coleslaw but it barely resembles the cabbage it comes from. Thursday night after noticing some of the outer leaves turning brown I decided I didn’t care about Marco’s allergy—I was making cabbage for dinner and nothing else! I turned to Andy Barrigani’s Fall-Apart Caramelized Cabbage recipe (below) on Bon Appetit and cooked the damn cabbage. And you know what? It was fucking delicious! This recipe is easy, loaded with flavor, and can be transformed into anything you want. I paired it with white rice, lots of scallions, and sour cream for an Asian fusion bowl of magic. Bookmark this recipe, give it a try, and let’s all eat more cabbage.
Now on to today’s topic, I want to talk a little bit about social media and the struggle of being a creator.
When I started posting stories on Instagram, at the start of the pandemic, I had no real reason behind it besides it was fun and I enjoyed the feedback I received from my friends. During the year of unemployment, unable to leave our homes, and unlimited free time I secretly dove into all aspects of social media. Obsessively studying and trying to understand how I could be better at it and ultimately grow. Grow my following, grow the number of likes I get, and grow my…business? I poured hours into social media hoping to get something out of it but not really knowing what my goal was. During the last 15 months, I have learned a lot about the internet and this digital world we live in. The most important thing I learned is that I hate it.
Within the first month of my new public account, I learned about engagement groups. I was added to one on Facebook and three Instagram group messages. The gist of these groups is this: you like/comment/save/share/follow in exchange for other people to like/comment/save/share/follow you. It is a way to perceive that you have a more engaged following on social media than you might actually have. Some use this with sponsored content as a way to increase the engagement on a sponsored post and deliver a better result to the sponsor company. Most use it to gain a little extra traffic on their pages. I used these groups successfully for a few months. In the beginning, I think it helped me gain some followers but over time it felt icky. I could never do a follow or comment thread because I hated following accounts that I didn’t know and I struggled to force comments out that I didn’t mean. Overall the groups helped with a temporary serotonin boost from higher engagement but felt inauthentic. I don’t blame anyone for using them but this made me realize from the very beginning that social media is completely fake. Just as one would edit a photo to look better before posting, the numbers and outcome can be completely manipulated.
Now if you want to organically grow your numbers the advice you will often hear is to post often, on a regular schedule, and use all types of social media. I taught myself how to edit videos on Splice, how to use Vsco for photo editing, how to make Tiktoks, Reels, IGTV, etc. I cooked daily, shot content, posted, and talked to my “audience” every…single…day. I was, and sometimes still am, a slave to social media. Social media managers are a thing because content creation is a full-time job. I struggle with two things here: 1. How am I supposed to cook when I need to post so much on social media (it is time-consuming)? 2. What do I actually get back from posting so much?
After eight months or so I started to think about how I was going to keep this going long term. Sure I enjoyed doing what I was doing as a hobby but I can’t spend every day doing work as a hobby. I identified two ways social media accounts make money. The first is sponsored content. Everyone has seen it, a conveniently placed product right in the middle of a photo with a clear shot of the logo. Now you will even see in super small print “ad” or “sponsored” somewhere on the post too. Advertisements are a fine way to make money but it is obvious when they are not a product someone actually uses. With being on a platform that is all about image, I don’t want someone else’s brand to be part of my internet identity. I learned of apps where you sign up to get placed with products that need advertising. One example was Kraft salad dressing. All of a sudden food accounts started posting tons of pictures of Kraft salad dressing bottles, all for a mediocre payout. I was simply uninterested in any part of that. The other way people on social media “get paid” is with products. If you catch a company’s eye they will send you a sample to try, with the hopes that you share it on your platform. I have received tons of products and as great as they are, products don’t pay the bills.
So why don’t content creators make any money? It’s simply because we expect online content to be free because it has always been free. It’s a vicious cycle of the creator wanting more exposure and posting free content and then the follower expecting more free content. Let’s specifically talk about food creators with this example: If someone went to culinary school and has a degree in culinary arts, has experience working in a culinary role, spends money on ingredients to test recipes multiple times, then films videos or writes detailed articles on how to help you successfully make a recipe…why shouldn’t that person get paid for their time, energy, and knowledge? Why do we expect skilled people to entertain us and teach us for free? Why do companies expect free recipes and advertisements if you do not have a large (10k, 50k 100k) following? This is something I have struggled with since the very beginning but I also find myself guilty of constantly wanting more free content. It is ingrained in us to want free content only because it has always been free.
Outside of social media apps, the way we consume media has changed. It has happened with TV and the decline of paying for cable. Instead, it is common to pay $5-10 a month for the channels you actually watch. Patreon has increased in popularity over the last few years allowing video (YouTube) and audio (podcast) creators to make money by producing content behind a paywall. In the writing space, we now have Substack, a platform that allows writers to send content to paying subscribers. There is no longer a need for major companies and huge publications to allow your voice to be heard. Journalists, writers, and anyone with something to say have a way of connecting directly with their audience while being directly compensated. The hard part is getting that audience off of free Instagram and subscribing to you like they would a magazine.
I continued to absorb information on how to be better at social media with the hope that someone out there would notice me. When Rachel Karten, the social media director behind Bon Appetit’s enormous rise, started her bi-weekly newsletter, Link In Bio, it exposed a lot of the rumors creators talk about. Instagram’s algorithm has ultimate control of how well your content does, check. Shadowbanning is a real thing and you can get shadowbanned for a ridiculous reason, great. Yes, you do actually need social media for your small business, noted. I listened to Holly Liss on Wine Face give tips on taking overhead food photos, using portrait mode, finding natural light, and how red photos do best on Instagram (for example Jon and Vinny’s Spicy Fusilli). I read an interview with Molly Baz and learned that pasta photos always do well (something I actually already knew) but that you can not create a post to go viral. There is no simple equation on what the internet will love and I have seen this with my own posts. Two of my posts have blown up in the last 15 months, one is a photo of my Lemon Drop Cookies and another is a snap of some cioppino. The cioppino is funny to me because I took the photo, edited it, and posted it while slightly drunk with not much thought. Maybe it did well because it is red?
The common theme with everything I have studied is that people like authenticity. You can feel when something is fake or forced and all you can do is keep doing you. The virality of content is all a gamble. Yes, photo skills will help and the more you post the better your chances are. So is everyone just pumping out content as a hobby with the off chance something might come out of it? Sounds insane to me.
I look at people that have turned their Instagram into a career with envy. I would love to post, share, and connect with people all day but I also can’t handle being on social media 24/7. It takes a toll on my mental health and takes away from what I really want to do, which is be in the kitchen. I’m no longer in any engagement groups and I post a few days a week instead of every day. My numbers are down and although it still gets to me I’m constantly reminding myself that I want social media to be a tool for my business, not my business.
Today I am launching a new bi-weekly section called People To Follow because being a creator is hard. My platform is small but I want to share it with other people that I see working their asses off. In an online industry that depends on a lot of word of mouth, sharing every little bit helps. So how can you support a creator you enjoy?
Engage with them. Follow, like, and comment. If you think your like won’t do much you are wrong! For example, on Substack, when a post receives a lot of likes and comments it ranks well in their charts and alerts the team. When someone in charge of promotions sees a new newsletter getting a lot of traffic they are more likely to shout them out, which can lead to more exposure and followers. Same with Instagram. The better a post does the more the algorithm shows it to people (major eye roll).
Share their content!!! Repost, repost, repost. Send it to a friend and give them credit when you try something that came from them.
Pay for content, if you have the means of course. Patreon, Substack, online classes, ebooks, etc. You are directly supporting your favorite creators and allowing them to continue doing what they love.
Tell them how much you enjoy their content. Seriously! Speaking from personal experience, nothing makes me happier than knowing people are actually following along. Be part of the online community. Send photos when you make a recipe. Tell them your thoughts. There is space for constructive criticism but remember to be kind. We are all just trying our best.
People To Follow
I am very excited to introduce you guys to Leigh from Craving California. We have been Instagram friends for some time now. I love following her and we are often on the same wavelength making similar dishes on the same night!
Hi! I’m Leigh. I am a chef and food blogger living in Los Angeles, California. When I first moved to LA I attended Le Cordon Bleu Culinary School and then immediately began working for Chef Michael Voltaggio at his award winning restaurant Ink. After Ink. I moved on to work for Chef Thomas Keller at Bouchon Bistro in Beverly Hills.
Currently I am balancing being a private chef and creating and sharing recipes on my food blog Craving California. I created this food blog to share all my favorite recipes, and culinary tips and tricks I’ve learned working for over ten years in the food industry.
California has such a diverse and inspiring food culture. We are so lucky to be surrounded by farmers markets, food trucks, and restaurants helmed by chefs from all over the world. In true California style my laid back recipes are influenced by local and seasonal ingredients.
My current favorite recipe: Brioche Breakfast Toasts
You can find me in all the online places but mostly; Instagram, Pinterest and my website www.cravingcalifornia.com
Stuff to Read
A Vintage Sailboat Is Ferrying Local Goodies From Hudson to Brooklyn
Chez Panisse Legend Alice Waters Opens First Restaurant in Los Angeles
Recipe Inspo
Listen To This
Places I ate
Kimberlee had two requests while she was in town: BBQ and brunch. I know I am late to the game but Succotash is brunch paradise. I had the Fav Breakfast Sandwich because…I love sandies and it was everything I wanted and more. Kimberlee got the Pork Hash (which was featured on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives!) and Sweedish Pancakes. I tried both and would order both of them again!
Thing Everybody Needs
Last week we popped down (literally down in the ground because it is an underground speakeasy) to Swordfish Tom’s and all of the drinks we ordered had big ice cubes. I ordered a tray to up my cocktail game at home. We all need big ice cubes this summer!
Get a big ass ice cube tray, here.
Animal Cuteness
Thanks for reading every this week! If you have thoughts on how we use social media, personally or professionally, I would love to hear them. Leave a comment below or send me an email.
See you next week, M.