Meet Danelle Mccollum | Food Blogger & Recipe Creator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Danelle Mccollum and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Danelle, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
Initially I started my website as a hobby–a place to store and organize my recipe collection. At the time I had no idea a food blog could even be a business.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I consider my food blog a very creative endeavor, because it encompasses cooking, photography and writing. There is, of course, a technical and business aspect to running a website, but I try to let other people handle that whenever possible.

In one sense, building a food blog was an easy process for me, because I love what I do, so it doesn’t usually feel like work. Even if I wasn’t sharing my recipes on the Internet, I’d still be cooking and writing and taking pictures. My kids call it a “hobby that makes money.” On the other hand, it’s not easy to be successful as a food blogger, because there is so much competition, and there are so many talented recipe creators. For me, it took years to build up a following, I’m not a patient person, so anything that requires patience is a challenge. Right now, running a blog or website of any kind is probably more challenging than it’s ever been. Google search has undergone so many changes over the last few years that content creators like me are seeing huge drops in traffic and visitors, and figuring out how to refocus and stand out has been challenging.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
We’d definitely visit Old Town Fort Collins for shopping and dining. I love to eat out and try new restaurants, so it’s hard to choose even a few favorites. Our all-time favorite place to eat in Fort Collins was Maza Kabob. We were heartbroken when the owner passed away and the restaurant closed. He was an amazing man with an amazing story, and we still miss him and his food. Our favorite hole-in-the wall spot is Big City Burrito. And the food at the Colorado Room is really unique and delicious!

Weather permitting, Rocky Mountain National Park is a must see. And if we had time, we’d drive a few hours south to see Garden of the Gods. Being big sports fans, we might try and catch a Nuggets or Avalanche game in Denver. If friends fly into DIA, we make sure and fill them in on the legend of Blucifer, the giant blue horse sculpture.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My family–my husband and three boys. They’ve been the taste testers for all of the recipes on my blog. And they’ve been served a lot of cold dinners so I could photograph the meal before they ate.

Website: https://www.letsdishrecipes.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/letsdish/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LetsDishRecipes

Other: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/letsdishrecipes/