Food blogging requires consistency and perseverance: Radhika Agarwal, Teekhi Mircheee

Exploring different eateries in the Defence Colony market lead to the curation of the blog Teekhi_Mircheee

At one point Radhika was also approached by The Hindu to give comments on future prospects of food blogging. She creates content from her daily life, be it a fancy mud cake, drool-worthy pizza or humble rajma chawal.

Looking back, where did it all begin?

Time flies very fast and it has been more than four years now since Teekhi_Mircheee went live. Food blogging is the hot talk of the town, and Instagram the prime medium of it. The handle which was started to show my love for food soon turned into a revolution with all the appreciation showered on me, a revolution to showcase the best of food throughout Delhi NCR.

It started in the year 2015, when in my college days, me and my friends used to explore different eateries in the Defence Colony market.

What's in the name?

It was in the year 2015, that I decided to give my Instagram handle an official name which I chose to be “Teekhi_Mircheee” simply because I love spices and spicy food.

What is your USP in this cluttered space? How does your content give you an edge?

My Instagram feed has food content which has instantaneous connect with my audience. I try not to over saturate the food pictures through filters. Good angle and natural light always help my content to be more relatable and visible on social media.

Please take us through your content creation process. How do you stay relevant and relatable?

I create content from my daily life- be it a fancy mud cake, drool-worthy pizza or humble rajma chawal! One has to match food with different moods. If your content lacks relevance with the audience, you have to work hard! I use Instagram stories as a great tool to connect with my audience. It helps to build a relation.

How do you make moolah with your efforts?

Food blogging is my passion and I love to capture food all the time. It takes a lot of hard work and time to capture the perfect shot. It is said “If you're good at something, never do it for free.” One should learn to say no! No to barters, no to freebies, no to free colabs! Build your own niche.

How do you maintain editorial objectivity with the influx of brand briefs?

I have had a mixed bag experience with brands. I have rejected a few of the brands because there was no space to portray my creativity. Honestly, I feel that media influencers know better about what works for their audience. I try to keep my feed content genuine and that is very essential.

Having said this, it’s very essential for the PR’s of brands also to study the influencer’s content first and then only approach for promotions.

Also Read:Interview: You need to associate with brands with similar values: Hungry Dilliwaali: Neha Sharma

One instance/experience that made it all worthwhile.

It has mainly been the love and appreciation of all my followers and my family’s constant support and encouragement that has made it all worthwhile. Small gestures like asking for a selfie when I’m in food fests or getting recognized by my handle, is what makes me happy and motivates me to keep posting new content at the end of the day.

It was when for the first time I got an appreciation message from my follower who was in New York, I felt really good.

Weirdest brand brief/request ever

I won’t deny that sometimes even big recognized brands approach with weirdest requests either in terms of free coverage or repeated edits in the content.

People don’t understand the hard work we put before publishing a post. Sometimes it takes hours to complete the whole work behind the post. It takes a lot of effort and creativity to do the plating and table setting.

If not blogging, you would be?

Professionally, I’m a homeopathic doctor having finished my MD last year. Food blogging is just a hobby to connect with people at large and unwind myself from the monotonous lifestyle.

A day in your life….

I’m quite an early starter and reach Hospital by 9 am which is followed by seeing the patients and making case studies until 4 pm. Post 4 pm, I give some time to my blog by either going out to visit a new café or just baking something. I like to end it with spending some good quality family time over dinner table or a warm cup of herbal tea.

Message/tips for upcoming bloggers

I will start by saying that it is very important for food bloggers to understand that they constitute one of the most popular and celebrated genres of blogging and I must admit that Food-stagramming is not easy and it requires a consistent good engaging content. It was a bit stressful initially to hear such criticism, but now it’s my motivation to write even better. All I have to say is; do something in life which you enjoy and makes you happy! Money cannot buy happiness, but the satisfaction in doing something you love and being successful is priceless.

Running a food blog might sound like a nice idea, but creating a successful one takes hard work, dedication, personality and excellent presentation. That’s why while thousands of food blogs exist, only a few of the most influential food bloggers gain large followings, brand partnerships and a decent income. Youth is full of energy and ideas, so here is my message-

Three things which matter the most-

1) Content is king - Be it a magazine, newspaper or in my case a microblog, without good content, you can't go anywhere. When people visit your profile, if content is engaging and appealing, they will stay no matter what.

2)Consistency - To be successful in anything that you do, consistency is the key.Having good content is one thing, but because everyone has a short attention span, you need to be consistent. You have to make sure that you are there. You need to post daily without fail. It is very important when you are trying to build a platform.

3) Engagement and Communication – Food blogging is very different from print/electronic media. While posting something on Instagram, you are actually directly engaging with your audience. They can relate to me as a person- when I post about ‘ghar ka khaana’, I receive such heartfelt comments like missing mom, missing home cooked food- that’s the beauty- people can relate.

The Future you foresee for your Personal Brand

Will be entering soon in food styling.