Simply LaKita

LaKita Anderson embodies her family's tradition of cooking. "I learned to cook from my mom and grandmother," she recalls. "I remember at age 21, first moving out of my parents' house after college, I only knew how to make hamburgers. But I'd ask my family for recipes and I started practicing and learning new things in the kitchen. That's when my obsession with cooking really started."

With dozens of family recipes written on note cards, LaKita wanted to create a digital archive of all her favorites. So while still working full time in a corporate job, she built her site, Simply LaKita.

LaKita spent four years building up her audience, then in 2020 she decided to start earning ad revenue with Google Ad Manager through Mediavine, a Google Certified Publishing Partner – "and after that ad revenue became a game changer." Working with Mediavine, LaKita has been able to refocus all her efforts on developing great recipes. "With this ad revenue," she says, "I don't have to chase down brands anymore, I don't have to sell my audience all the time. I'm able to create content readers want to see and it earns money automatically with ads that are relevant and high quality. It brought stability." That extra time is crucial, because recipe development takes a lot of work. "My favorite recipe for our small batch cinnamon rolls took me three months to develop," she recalls. "I made it every single week, experimenting with slight variations. After I finally got it down, I decided I wouldn't make cinnamon rolls for another six months."

The ability to invest more in her content has paid off – LaKita has seen her revenue per thousand impressions (RPM) increase 5x. "When I first started my RPM was around $23," she says; "now it's up to $125 for my top-performing recipes." This has helped LaKita up her cooking game. "My followers know I will never make potato salad because my mom makes the best. But I've been able to really elevate my cooking over the last few years; my mom now thinks I'm better than her at some things."

As LaKita continues to grow Simply LaKita and crunch her newest recipes, it's her followers that keep her motivated. "I love when people make my recipes and tag me in their post," she says; "seeing their creations, hearing about how they made it for a child's birthday or a family celebration. Being able to share my family recipes with other people – it's incredible."