Recognizing the Old Thinking Trap
I was talking with a woman who runs a service business. She is self-employed and going through a divorce. One major reason the divorce was not resolving quickly was financial disagreement. Her soon-to-be ex insisted she was hiding money, which she was not. She refused to compromise on the numbers because she did not want to work more hours to earn more to offset what she would be giving up. She also did not want to raise her prices because she was comfortable with them and they seemed fair. She was stuck.
But what exactly was stuck? Her thinking!
Her internal model was this. More dollars only come when I trade more hours. That model kept her stuck, chasing paychecks, exhausted, and bound by what she believed she must do.
If you as a food blogger (or service based creator) believe you must work more hours to make more money, you are trapped in a hamster wheel of effort. This thought creates the feeling of pressure, which spurs over-working. The action yields results that seem positive (more money) but in reality, only validate the thought and have you working even more hours. So, the cycle continues.
Let us unpack why that is so limiting.
Why That Old Thinking Keeps You Tired, Broke and Chasing
When you operate under the assumption that you must trade time for money, you are effectively saying your income ceiling is directly tied to your available hours.
This means:
You are limited by your energy, your schedule, your capacity
If you take on more hours, your personal life suffers, your creativity drains, burnout looms
If you do not take on more hours, the income stagnates
You feel like you have to prove you are busy to earn, and that feeling keeps you needy, low valued, and under charging
Especially for many women in service or food blogging worlds, the discomfort of charging above average arises because you believe you only get paid if you keep doing the hours, keep prepping, keep serving. So you under value your time and your expertise
In the story above, the woman feared that if she gave up more money in her divorce settlement, she would have to work more hours to compensate. That is the dollars for hours thinking.
It feels safe because it gives you the impression that you are in control.
But, it will always keep you in a state of lack because there are only so many hours in a day. Eventually you will lack the number of hours you need in order to create the money you want.
She also clung to her current pricing because it felt comfortable and safe and it reinforced her current thinking, making her feel even more confident in her “truth”.
This false confidence never really helps you get what you want though, because it will always keep you stuck in your old thinking.
The New Thinking You Must Adopt
There is new thinking and you can adopt it and change your life. Ask yourself, “How can I make more money in less time while feeling good about it?” Put your brain to work on this question.
Notice those three pieces. Make more, in less time, while feeling good. The feeling good piece is crucial because everything falls apart if you don’t feel good about taking action.
As a food blogger, you must adopt this presupposition: Your time is not the only currency available to you. You have multiple ways to make money
Here are some reframes:
Old thought: I must blog five times a week and respond to every comment so I will earn a certain amount.
New thought: What content or product could I create once, publish once, and reuse in multiple ways to earn more without doubling my hours?
Old thought: My income is limited by how many cooking sessions or recipe posts I can deliver
New thought: What passive or semi passive offers can I create such as a mini course, e book, membership, or high-end intensives that decouple my time from my income?
As you imagine applying this strategy, which post or product comes to mind for your blog that could use a fresh approach?
Want help applying this to your blog?
Real Life Transformations from Old Thinking to New Results
Let us cook up three scenarios so you can taste the change.
Scenario One. The Recipe Library Instead of Hourly Consulting
A food blogger was spending dozens of hours each week consulting one on one for chefs who wanted help launching blogs. She raised her hourly rate but still felt booked to capacity and exhausted. She shifted. She created a Blog Launch Bootcamp self paced course priced at a premium, launched it once, and then offered limited live Q and A calls. She now earns the same amount in less than half the time, with more freedom, more rest, and more revenue.
Scenario Two. High Value Intensive Instead of Low Priced Services
A food stylist was offering one-off services like plating consultations and individual photo styling sessions for under $100 each. She was constantly juggling clients, rescheduling, and barely making ends meet. After a mindset shift, she created a premium one-day intensive for food bloggers who want to improve their visual brand. She priced it at $800, included a full brand audit, a style guide, and two styled shoots. Not only did her income increase, but she now only books one client per week and spends the rest of her time creating content and enjoying her life. Her clients feel more supported and her business finally reflects her expertise.
Scenario Three. Membership Model Instead of One Time Engagements
A cooking educator did live workshops repeatedly with different audiences. She shifted to a monthly membership that included live recipe sessions, guest chef interviews, and community. Pricing doubled her previous one-time workshop ticket, but because it is recurring, she has predictable income, fewer one-time sales, more time to curate content, and a community that values her deeply.
In each case the key pivot was the mindset. Value over hours. Ease over hustle. Less busy work and more strategic work. From that thought, the feelings changed. Freedom, confidence, ease. And the results followed.
Practical Steps You Can Take Right Now
Audit your current offerings. List each service, blog product, and consulting slot and the time it takes. Notice which are time heavy and low profit
Ask yourself. How could I create a leveraged offer like an online course, membership, or group program that delivers similar or better value in fewer hours?
Raise your pricing. Review your value, ask what transformation you deliver, and price accordingly. Then craft your messaging to reflect the transformation, not the hours
Practice the new thought. Repeat daily, I am paid for value, not hours. My offers reflect the transformational result, and I feel good charging accordingly
Choose one pilot. Which blog product or service will you redesign first under this new thinking? Set a deadline for launch
As you imagine applying this to your blog or service business, which post or project comes to mind that could benefit? Choose it now.
Final Thoughts
When you let go of the old equation that dollars equal hours, you free yourself to become the chef of your business rather than the busy line cook. Your time becomes sacred. Your pricing becomes bold. Your offers become efficient. And your feelings become aligned with your value.
You are the expert. Your food blog or service business is the vessel. Your mindset is the recipe. Change the ingredients of how you think and you change the taste of your business results.
FAQ
Q1: Why does thinking in terms of “hours = dollars” keep food bloggers stuck?
Because it puts a hard cap on your income—your output is limited by time and energy. That means you’re trading time for money rather than creating scalable value.
Q2: How can I charge more when many women in service and food blogging feel uncomfortable doing so?
Start by reframing your mindset around value and transformation not effort. Practice affirming your worth, clearly articulate the transformation for your reader, and package your offer so it reflects that higher value.
Q3: What’s the first step to making more in less time while feeling good about it?
Pick one service or product to redesign. Create a leveraged model (online course, membership, group program), raise your price to reflect outcome not hours, and set the launch date.
Ready to design your personalized recipe for success?
