How to Monetize my Skills?

If you already have 10k followers at your disposal, why stop at creating "the obvious food blog"?

That a good start far as 10k following. Maybe you should try other social media outlet like Youtube for videos and Pinterest for images.

Portugal is "small": population 10.3 million - true statement

There are in excess of 100 Million people the world over with Portuguese descent. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portug...se%20ancestors. )

So without even trying we have 10X'd what you believe your target market is.

Outside of the new found 100 Million people there are people that happen to like Portuguese food.

and its THAT that you need to focus on... bringing your regions flavor to the world - through Vegan dishes.

Do you have a vegan version of Francesinha or Acorda or something along the lines of Cataplana de marisco? You following me?

Hope that Helps!

How engaged are those 10k followers? The best is always to ask your audience, what challenge do they have in that niche, talk with them, maybe in an Instagram live. Matching what your audience with what you can offer is a nice recipe for success

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You can write down your cook receipes and then repurpose them to blog, ebook, online course etc. You can also offer coaching for people who want to learn how to cook vegan or portugese dishes.

create your pages and add people for almost 10k. And create your links and all links share with peoples

You're known in Portugal right? Start with monetizing yourself there.

However, if you're not know anywhere else, you need to branch out your brand internationally.

And that starts with providing free before fee. You're right! The market is likely oversaturated like every market is. But no one is going to buy anything from a brand they've never heard of.

If I was in your shoes, I spend about a week researching VIDEO. The food videos, especially the shorter ones sped up showing you how to cook that delicious looking dish! Look for this especially around themed event like sporting events, holidays, and such.

Then replicate it with your vegan dishes. It might take you a few times to get good at it.

That's where I would start. Put it on TikTok! You have a better chance of creating viral content there. Also put it on YouTube shorts and IG reels as both networks are giving more people who use those features more views.

That's a good starting point to start getting known, get your brand some recognition.

Then move on to the actual money making products as you grow your brand.

Blog posts, courses, digital cookbooks, live cooking webinars, digital conventions, paid mailing list, the ideas just keep going.

What do you think about these ideas?

You mentioned that the food blog is an oversaturated niche. The Internet is vast and has a lot of opportunity.

You can narrow down that niche, by going for "vegan" cooking and also "family" cooking. You could also narrow down the niche and go for "women" cooking.

You can go a step further, and narrow the niche by age range, say 25 to 30 years old. And then perhaps target females with 2 to 3 children.

Ideally, do you want to target a person that is almost exactly like you. This way, the viewer can relate to you and your interests.