How To Start A Food Blog: Quarter Two Update (Real Numbers, Real Growth)

If you read my Q1 recap, you know the whole point of this series is honesty. No inflated screenshots, no “I made six figures in 90 days” nonsense. Just what’s actually happening over here as we build this thing one Pinterest pin at a time.

And you guys… Q2 was the quarter where things started to click.

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you if you choose to purchase through them.

A Quick Recap

If you missed Q1: I came back to blogging after 10 years on and off, decided to skip the social media hustle, and built everything around Pinterest instead. Q1 ended with 504 sessions, 9 email subscribers, and $25.66 in income.

Slow. Steady. Nothing fancy.

Q2 is where that slow and steady approach actually started to compound.

Q2 Blog Stats

(These are my personal results for April through June. Blogging, Pinterest growth, and income will vary from person to person and are not guaranteed.)

# of Blog Posts: 8

I published fewer posts than Q1 (down from 21), and honestly, that’s just real life with four kiddos and a full homeschool schedule. But fewer posts didn’t mean less growth, which was such a good reminder for me.

Email Subscribers: 80 (up from 9 in Q1!)

Traffic

Sessions were up 880.8% quarter over quarter, landing around 5.2K sessions for the quarter. Views hit 7K and active users came in at 4.5K. My bounce rate even improved slightly too.

That is not a typo and I still can’t believe it lol.

Pinterest

This is still, hands down, my #1 traffic driver:

Impressions: 215.31k
Engagements: 5.42k
Outbound clicks: 4.52k
Saves: 222
Total audience: 152.88k
Engaged audience: 4.17k

Instagram

Still not my primary traffic source, still just showing up occasionally to support content. Current followers: 29 (up from 22).

Income

This is the part I’m most excited to share.

Mediavine Journey ad revenue: $30.16
Affiliate commission: $13.42
Digital product sales: $7.00 (our FIRST digital product sale ever for this blog!!)
Total: $50.58

That’s basically double my Q1 income, and getting into Journey by Mediavine this quarter felt like such a milestone. Seeing that first digital product sale come through was a happy dance in the kitchen kind of moment.

What’s Actually Working

Fewer posts, same (or better) growth. Publishing less than Q1 and still seeing traffic explode taught me that consistency matters more than volume.
Pinterest is still the engine. 215k impressions from a quarter of showing up consistently confirms this strategy is the right one for this season of life.
Letting the content marinate. Posts from Q1 are still working for me in Q2. That’s the whole point of evergreen, Pinterest-driven content.
Diversifying income streams. Ads, affiliate, and now digital products all contributing, even in small amounts, feels like real proof of concept.

What Hasn’t Worked (Or Just Didn’t Happen)

Publishing as often as I wanted to
A dialed-in monthly rhythm for the digital product side
Consistent Instagram posting (still just occasional over here)

The Biggest Shift

In Q1, the shift was learning to create content based on what Pinterest was already telling me people wanted.

In Q2, the shift was watching that strategy actually pay off, literally. Getting into Journey by Mediavine and making my first digital product sale in the same quarter felt like confirmation that the slow, unglamorous, Pinterest-first approach works.

Want to Start a Blog Like This?

If you’ve been reading these quarterly updates and thinking, “okay… maybe I could do this too,” I want to keep this part really simple.

You don’t need a big following, a complicated setup, or tons of time. You just need a place to put your content.

What I Use to Run My Blog

I personally use Bluehost to host my blog. It’s beginner-friendly, affordable, and one of the easiest ways to get started if you’re new to blogging.

👉 You can start your blog here.

Simple Steps to Start a Blog

Get hosting
Choose your domain name
Install WordPress
Pick a simple theme ( You can get cute and affordable ones from places like Etsy, I also like Restored 316, and 17th Avenue Designs)
Start posting

That’s it. Don’t wait until everything is perfect. My biggest growth so far has come from starting messy and figuring it out as I go.

Want the Exact Strategy Behind the Pinterest Growth?

If you’re looking at that 215k impressions number and wondering how, this is exactly what I walk through in my guide.

The Pinterest Trends Blogging Method is my simple system for planning blog posts using real Pinterest search data, the same system behind everything you just read.

👉 Grab it here for just $9

No complicated funnels. No daily social media grind. Just a repeatable system.

Looking Ahead to Q3

Honestly? Things are shifting a bit for me right now, so I don’t have a tidy list of Q3 goals the way I did heading into Q2.

What I do know:

I want to revamp my digital product ( stay tunnnneeeddd)
I want to create a new freebie to keep growing that email list
I’m hoping to bring in a bigger chunk of income this quarter.

Beyond that, I’m giving myself some grace to figure out what Q3 looks like as I go. Some quarters are for setting the plan. This one might just be for staying flexible and seeing what unfolds.