Picture this: you go around your community tasting delicious dishes, taking pictures of your food, and posting them on social media. Doesn’t it sound like the dream job? These are the basic steps in a food blogger’s work–there is more than meets the eye. With social media’s great impact, we are seeing more and more food bloggers on our feeds. Behind those tempting photos is a lot of dedication and hard work.
Tim Cheung started his food blogging journey as a hobby five years ago, but it rapidly turned into his career. Utilizing his experience and knowledge on digital marketing and social media marketing, he has been able to create quality content, keeping his followers entertained. What this Bay Area foodie’s journey teaches us is there are many steps behind the photos you see on his Instagram account. From what we have learned, there are four fundamental steps: researching, tasting, editing, and posting.
- Researching
Tim does two kinds of research. The first one regarding minority-owned spots and mom and pop restaurants. He does this because one of his main goals as food blogger is to bring awareness to all the hidden gems in the Bay Area that are being overlooked. It is one way for him to encourage people to try different ethnic foods.
His second research is based on trends and what dishes or spots people are talking and posting about. Cheung says, “it’s important for food bloggers to check out the newest food trends as those are usually the most newsworthy.” This is how he keeps his followers engaged and why he calls himself “a foodie that’s crazy for all the newest food hypes.”
- Tasting
The tasting is one of the most important and probably most enjoyable steps of food blogging. This professional food photographer believes food tastes better when it is shared. For this reason, he has connected with other food bloggers who are as passionate as he is about food. Together they would go–before shelter-in-place–on collaborative food crawls once or twice a week trying five spots in one day, documenting the amazing dishes they tasted.
- Editing
Cheung would spend the rest of his days–when he is not researching or tasting–editing his content. He edits photos and creates videos according to the food trends. This food blogger has learned “an important thing to look for when it comes to food is relatability” and that is what he aims to capture with every shot. With this in mind, he developed certain tricks such as squeezing a lime to highlight a certain aspect of a dish.
- Posting
Consistency is key. According to Tim, “following a posting schedule is important in keeping your audience interested and definitely helps in growing your following.” He makes sure to post on his Instagram feed and story with eye-catching photos and captions to keep followers entertained.
As you can see, food blogging consists of many steps to make sure entertaining and quality content is posted consistently. These four steps–researching, tasting, editing, and posting–are part of Tim Cheung’s journey. A journey that has led him to become a professional food photographer for some of the top restaurants in San Francisco. Is this the kind of job you would like? Are you ready to follow Cheung’s steps?