Easy Peasy Foodie

Eb Gargano, Founder

Sussex, UK

2024

Easy Peasy Foodie helps home cooks maximize flavor while minimizing fuss

Eb Gargano had a passion for bold flavors and a love of writing, so it was only natural that she’d launch a food blog. Millions of pageviews later, Eb is inspiring home cooks around the world — and even giving them the tools to launch their own blogs.

A foodie finds her voice

Eb Gargano admits she has a bit of a “crazy” resume. Not many people can say they have a business degree from a top UK business school, years of work in the wine industry, teaching experience in both the UK and France, and extensive marketing experience.

After teaching, Eb added yet another item to her resume, taking a job as a blogger for a local recruitment company’s website. It was a wonderful introduction to the world of blogging, and soon the wheels began to turn: maybe she could combine her love of writing, teaching, and flavor into a blog of her own?

In May 2015, Eb just did that, creating Easy Peasy Foodie. The mission of Easy Peasy Foodie is straightforward: maximum flavor, minimum fuss.

“Working in wine gave me a very discerning approach to flavor,” says Eb. “At the same time, I’ve been a teacher, which gives me the ability to break down flavorful recipes into something much more simple and approachable to the home chef.”

Steadily building an audience

While Eb was ecstatic to get up and running with Easy Peasy Foodie, growth was slow to start. She was stuck at 15,000 pageviews a month after two full years of blogging — and her attempts at driving traffic from social media weren’t very successful.

Then Eb discovered a key tool: SEO. Once she learned her way around SEO, the blog’s traffic skyrocketed, growing more than 1000% in under a year. She went from 15,000 page views a month to 1,000,000 monthly pageviews just three years later.

Naturally, it was time to make the most of this traffic by launching an ad strategy. Eb had used Google AdSense early on and ad income grew slowly and steadily at first, but things really took off when her traffic hit a level that met the minimums for one of Google Channel Partners, Mediavine.

From there they took on management of Eb’s ad strategy and helped her dramatically increase her ad revenue.

“At first, it was a real encouragement to see that income steadily rise month over month with just AdSense,” says Eb. “But when we partnered with Mediavine, everything changed. They’ve been such a valuable partner and really helped my ad strategy go to the next level.”

The secret ingredient: ad revenue

“Ads are a hugely important part of my business,” says Eb. “Without ads I am 100% sure that I wouldn’t be where I am today. They have enabled me to grow my blog into a lucrative business that has transformed my life.”

Eb hasn’t just found business success through AdSense — she’s also felt how steady ad revenue has improved her personal life. She’s had the ability to spend invaluable time with her family on holidays and pay for her children to follow their passions, like tennis and dance.

Best of all, ads have enabled Eb’s husband to leave his corporate job and follow his passion of becoming a youth worker. Today, he gets to have an impact in the lives of dozens of teenagers and their families. Overall, their family is happier and more fulfilled — and they never could have afforded it without Eb’s consistent ad income.

But that’s not all. “Our ad revenue has also helped me build a very well stocked wine cellar,” says Eb with a smile.

“Without ads I am 100% sure that I wouldn’t be where I am today. They have enabled me to grow my blog into a lucrative business that has transformed my life.”

Paying it forward

The success from ads has also encouraged Eb to pay it forward, launching courses that walk prospective bloggers through the creative and business elements of the endeavor. Through her secondary business, Productive Blogging, and her hugely popular SEO Jumpstart course, Eb helps other bloggers learn their way around SEO. Now many of Eb’s students have gone on to launch successful sites of their own.

What keeps Eb going is the fan mail she receives from happy readers. From SEO Jumpstart students who got accepted to Mediavine to a struggling home cook who learned the ropes through Easy Peasy Foodie, Eb is proud to know that the businesses she started from scratch are having a positive impact on thousands of people around the world.

“On Easy Peasy Foodie, the future is simple: more recipes,” says Eb. “I aim to produce a new recipe post every week for my audience, and I don’t see that changing any time soon. I love that monetizing via ads means I can continue to offer these recipes to my audience free of charge.”

About the Publisher

Eb Gargano is a professional blogger, author, course creator and digital entrepreneur. She’s the founder of Easy Peasy Foodie – where she shares easy recipes, midweek dinner inspiration and meal planning tips – and Productive Blogging – where she teaches bloggers and online business owners how to be more strategic with their time, so they can earn more while working less. She has helped over 2,500 students build more successful and productive online businesses through her popular blogging, SEO and email marketing courses, and her signature program Profitable Productivity. Eb is based in Sussex, UK, where she lives with her husband and two children, aged 13 and 15.