Sugar Free Londoner

When Katrin Nürnberger started Sugar Free Londoner in the autumn of 2015, she didn’t set out to start an online business.

“In the beginning, it was simply an outlet for my creativity and a way to share the way of eating that I loved,” says Katrin. “I worked on the blog alongside my day job as a journalist — and I knew nothing about food blogging and even less about earning money online.”

Katrin’s mission was simple: she wanted to show people that going sugar-free can be delicious instead of restrictive. To get started, she watched YouTube videos that walked her through starting a website, taking quality photos, and perfecting her recipes so that she could feel confident sharing them with the world.

It was an exciting learning experience — but the true breakthrough came when Katrin realized she didn’t have to go at it alone.

“I joined food blogger groups on Facebook and realized that the power in blogging was all about working with my competitors and sharing each other’s content on social media,” says Katrin. “I’m lucky that more seasoned bloggers took me under their wing. They graciously included my recipes in roundups and showed my content to their audiences. They taught me so much, and I value this community highly to this day.”

Soon enough, Katrin’s recipes took off — and before she knew it, her hobby had turned into a full-fledged business. But before she could work full-time on Sugar Free Londoner, she’d need to figure out a winning monetization strategy.

No, Katrin wasn’t rolling in the (low-carb) dough overnight. “In the first month with AdSense, I earned about 10 dollars,” says Katrin. “But I think those were the best 10 dollars I ever earned. I felt so proud that I had created something out of nothing and it was rewarded financially.”

“Soon, the 10 dollars turned into 100 and then 1000 per month,” says Katrin. “After one year, I was able to give up my day job as a journalist to concentrate on Sugar Free Londoner full-time. Ever since then, I am lucky enough to earn a steady income that supports my family. The majority of my revenue stems from ads.”

Thanks to her ad revenue, Katrin has been able to hire an external company to handle those pesky tech tasks that she’d rather avoid. They handle maintenance of plugins, site speed, backups, and help with any Wordpress issues.

"Over the years, I have engaged freelancers to help with tasks such as social media scheduling and video creation,” says Katrin. “I also use my income to invest in the future of my business by taking courses on digital media. This is an ever-changing landscape and it is important to keep the finger on the pulse."

Katrin enjoys hearing from readers who enjoy her recipes — so reading and responding to comments is the first thing she does every morning. Her everyday low-carb bread is a versatile loaf that has plenty of fans — and some have been baking it for years.

“I recently talked to a reader on Facebook who told me that she makes a loaf of this bread at least twice a month,” says Katrin. “I asked her if she ever tweaked it a little to change the flavor, but she said she never does because it’s perfect exactly the way it’s written.”

Some of the most moving emails are from people who needed to switch to a sugar-free diet for health reasons — and found exactly what they needed on Sugar Free Londoner. For instance, a reader named Attila emailed Katrin to tell her how he was diagnosed with diabetes and was worried he’d never get to eat a dessert ever again.

“But then he found my site,” says Katrin. “And he’s been able to eat the pancakes, the frozen yogurt, the strawberry mousse, and the no-bake cheesecake — and he thought all of them were wonderful.”

Another reader named Margot found that making Katrin’s recipes after her type II diabetes diagnose made her feel fitter, look better, and — most importantly — allowed her to phase out one of her medications due to her improved health.

“I feel like I am the luckiest person in the world that I have been able to turn my creativity and my passion for food into a job that pays me a salary,” says Katrin. “My recipes make other people happy, and I feel humbled that I can bring joy into someone else’s life who may live on the other side of the world.”