Publisher Spotlight: PaleOMG

We recently sat down with Lijit publisher Juli Bauer, owner and operator of PaleOMG, a site focusing on the paleo lifestyle as well as the daily happenings of Juli’s life. Juli is a huge presence in the Colorado CrossFit community, and never falls short of providing her readers with tips, tricks, and a whole lot of wit.
Read on to find out how Juli got her start, and why she doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon!
How long have you been blogging? Why did you start?
I have been blogging for a year and a couple months now. I got my start when I began doing CrossFit and then started a paleo diet soon after. The owner at my first gym asked me to start a nutrition blog for them and once I moved to another gym I decided I would start blogging on my own. At first I would post recipes I found, and then began cooking all different kinds of recipes to post to my website. I started sharing stories about what I did on the weekends and people seemed pretty into that aspect too. I always have stories to share with people, and my blog has become very interactive.
What is your favorite paleo recipe?
I am a big dessert person and when I was changing over to paleo, I had a couple of freak outs when I thought about how terrible life would be if I could never have cake again. I calmed down when I found recipes for paleo bread, and I have a paleo cheesecake recipe that is the best thing I have ever tasted. It’s scary when you go paleo because you think you will never be able to enjoy food again. I learned that you can still have a sweet tooth and get your treats.
You have a large following of 30,000+ page views daily. How have you grown and maintained your audience?
I think the success of my blog has come from my honesty. I talk to my readers exactly how I would speak to any of my friends. I talk about my fears with starting paleo, my successes, being scared about certain workouts coming up, or the times I’ve fallen off the bandwagon. You can feel intimidated by a lot of blogs. I like to provide my readers with an honest outlook. I will have a cupcake if I want a cupcake.
What is one of the coolest things that have come from writing your blog?
One of the coolest things about writing my blog has been the people I have met through it. I get emails from people all the time telling me about how I have inspired them to start CrossFit thanking me for helping them through really hard times, and talking to me about other deep stuff that you would never talk to a person regularly about. It’s cool to have people from across the country and across the world that I have never met contact me because they feel as though they have some kind of connection to me.
How has Lijit helped you as a publisher?
The biggest thing has been my groceries – Lijit has helped me continue to do what I love to do. As funny as that sounds, the money I have made with Lijit has been so helpful in that regard. I cook these meals for my blog and I am not always consuming them. I have different allergies, but I enjoy making all kinds of recipes for my blog. If I didn’t have Lijit to work with, I would not be able to post as often as I do, and share all my recipes with my readers!
What does your blogging future look like?
I love writing and blogging on PaleOMG and that will never change. Whether it is my full time career or something I do on the side, I will continue to write no matter what. I love sharing stories with people and food with people because it is what is important to me. I am glad it is important to other people too!
Do you have any tips for new publishers looking to grow their site?
Be yourself and genuinely care about the people who take the time to read your site. They are what is most important.