Let’s get real – building confidence in the workplace can be challenging, especially if you’re team #workfromhome, To help boost your self-belief, we’ve put together five tips below to help you get that confidence #glowup.
Speak your mind. Sometimes a lack of confidence might keep you from chiming in during those Zoom meetings, but they’re actually perfect opportunities for you to use your voice! By speaking up in a meeting or on a call, you’re building confidence as you see reactions to and converse your views in real-time.
Take criticism in stride. In order for any of us to learn & grow, we have to make mistakes – it’s true! Criticism can cause us to lose our confidence, but that shouldn’t be the case. Instead of instantly reacting, take a pause, listen to understand what they are communicating, and think about what you’ll learn thanks to their feedback!
Grow what you know. Knowledge is power. The more you learn, the more certain you are of what you’re doing, which boosts confidence. Subscribe to new publications, read, and research to increase what you know. If you’re familiar with how certain practices and processes work, your confidence will soar when executing them!
Ask questions. Have a task you’re unsure about how to execute? Don’t be afraid to ask questions to gain clarity or grow your knowledge. The better understanding you have about a brief or task will allow you to complete it with confidence!
Be your own inspiration. That’s right – cheer yourself on every day. A positive mindset will do wonders for you along with positive self-talk. Sometimes the language we use limits us, so it’s time to throw out any negative words in your vocabulary.
Any confidence tips we missed? Let us know what your top are in the comments below!
Time to put a spring in your step – and your tech! It’s no secret we’re a fan of switching up our computer and phone backgrounds each season, which is why we’re sharing three fun + cheerful spring backdrops that you can use for your phone and desktop, too!
To download, click the links below each photo and then save to either your desktop or phone. We hope you love them as much as we do!
Having a firm understanding of your target consumer is critical in growing your brand, but it may not be the first thing you think of when it comes to setting your PR team up for success.
Here are three ways you can maximize PR efforts by understanding your target audience:
Hone in on securing press placements in publications your target audience reads and looks to as a trusted source for expert advice and inspiration
Partner with influencers who speak to your target audience and can create content that will provide value to them, solve their challenges and meet their needs
Collaborate with like minded brands your audience is also interested in to further expand your awareness and brand affinity
Pro Tip: Your audience will be ever evolving as the world does, so make sure to leverage PR to have conversations and get feedback from your consumers to stay on top of their needs and preferences.
Welcome back to 5 Questions with SPPR! While we’re still sharing these amazing interviews on the blog, we’ve also moved our interviews over to the ‘gram on IGTV because video is just more fun, don’t you think? Feel free to keep reading or visit our Instagram to watch the interview.
We’re so excited to chat all things terpenes, CBD and biz today with owner + founder of Sweet Crude (and #SPPRclient!), Talia Bennick! Keep reading to hang with Ashley from team SPPR and learn what inspired Talia to start Sweet Crude, her thoughts on myths about CBD and the best piece of advice she has received as an entrepreneur. ⚡️
Ashley: We have been drinking a ton of Sweet Crude here at SPPR lately to chill on an entirely new level and we absolutely love it. Would you mind giving us a little bit of background on what inspired you to started Sweet Crude?
Talia: Around the age of 22 or so I started experiencing really excruciating migraines and alcohol was a big trigger for them, so it became clear that it would benefit me to cut alcohol out of my daily life and routine and I began mixing non-alcoholic zero proof cocktails. I love to host dinner parties, have people over in my home, and make sure that they feel super comfortable & welcomed, and as I was mixing these non-alcoholic cocktails for company along with alcoholic cocktails, I began adding CBD to them. I found that everybody at the table wanted at least one round of a CBD cocktail and knew I was onto something. From there, I decided not to just mix drinks in my kitchen anymore, but to create Sweet Crude.
Ashley: That’s awesome. I love founder stories like that, it’s goes back to that old saying of necessity is the mother of invention.
Talia: Absolutely. The first time I had experienced CBD a handful of years ago was at a dinner party at a friend’s house and after dinner, they offered me a Lord Jones CBD gummy. From the opening of this beautiful box (their packaging is gorgeous) to enjoying popping the gummy into my mouth. I really liked the experience and it was a great introduction to CBD. What I found was that I wished that the gummy was a sippable experience that I could drink over the course of an hour or so.
That’s what really got me thinking: “Okay, well I know that I love what CBD has to offer, but what is there’s a way to extend that experience?” Not just one gummy popping into your mouth, but also a sipping experience around it. That would be something that is really special. I also think packaging can be a really great experience around a beverage or CBD product and at Sweet Crude we have all of our tasting notes on all of our packaging, cans, boxes and things like that. It helps elevate the entire experience and let consumers understand what the product is really offering.
Ashley: You definitely achieved that with Sweet Crude, for sure. It’s so delicious and you can really taste the essence that you put into it. Talking a little bit more about that, we hear a lot about terpenes. This is a new term that is coming out in the CBD world. Can you break the term down a little bit and explain what are terpenes and how are they essential to Sweet Crude’s CBD?
Talia: I am in love with terpenes. I want to deem myself the Terpene Queen. What are they? They’re really simply aromatic plant compounds or botanical compounds and you find them all across nature. For anybody who uses lavender in their self care routine, if you close your eyes and think about lavender, you’re immediately calmed. It’s the terpenes in lavender that are tapping into that mind body connection. You find them in lavender, lemon, citrus, and cannabis – so in hemp as well. When I think about a cocktail experience, but specifically a zero proof cocktail experience, you want a sensory experience that’s going to tap not into just taste, but smell and all of your senses. Terpenes do a great job at that.
We used Pineapples Express terpenes for our Mellow Mule and you get an earthy funk with Siberian Fir needle, the terpenes that you find in the hemp extract, as well. For our OG tonic, we use Lime OG terpenes to pair with that. It’s as if you pictured a non alcoholic gin and tonic, we use Juniper and that lime slice on top of a typical G&T, we’re using terpenes for that.
Ashley: Yes! This was all new to me, too, once we started working together. One of the most beautiful qualities of the product is that as soon as you pour either flavor into a glass, or even when you crack open the can, you can really smell those terpenes in the aroma which is then coupled with a beautiful taste.
Talia: I’m so glad to hear that and that you’re getting that experience. One of the things I’m really excited about is that with Pineapple Express, you get a happy, chill vibe and with OG Tonic, the terpenes that we use are a little bit more uplifting and cerebral. Being able to create these different forms of relaxation that our mind is tapping into as we’re sipping or cracking the can open is what I’m really excited about, so thank you so much for sharing that.
Ashley: Along the lines of education and educating people – not only about what terpenes are, but also education about the CBD industry – it is a rapidly growing industry. We’re seeing so many really cool and innovative products that are hitting the market right now. From your perspective, what is one CBD myth or myths that you would want to debunk and set straight?
Talia: I think the biggest one out there is that that CBD will get you high, but CBD is non-psychoactive. There are a lot of health claims out there and there’s still a ton of research that needs to be done around CBD to prove out some of those health claims. For Sweet Crude, the reason we include CBD is to provide just that bit of relaxation to release tension. If your shoulders are up to your ears at the end of the day and they come down a little because of your sipping experience with us, that’s our goal.
Ashley: A fun personal anecdote: my sister-in-law has been struggling with some shoulder pain over the last year. She’s gone to the doctor and they haven’t been able to really figure out what was wrong with her. I introduced her to Sweet Crude – which we’ve been drinking when we watch The Bachelor together every week – and she’s said that since drinking it, her shoulder pain has gone away. It’s not a medical or scientific endorsement, but it’s helped her a lot.
Talia: That’s fantastic. I’ve heard a bunch of stories like that around pain or muscle tension, sleep, things like that. It is such a case by case, individual basis, but I’m glad that Sweet Crude is helping people in that respect too.
Ashley: Absolutely. I’d love to chat about business advice. You started Sweet Crude about a year ago and had your first release not too long ago. As a young entrepreneur, what is the best piece of advice that you’ve received that you would want to pass along to other entrepreneurs that are starting their own businesses?
Talia: That is such a good question. I don’t know who shared it with me, but a little piece of advice that I find I remind myself about on almost a daily basis is that if you are comfortable, that means you are not learning. I find that I am uncomfortable for the majority of every day as I am launching Sweet Crude. Sometimes being uncomfortable can also be painful, but I continuously remind myself that this is in the pursuit of growth and success for Sweet Crude and for this launch.
Ashley: Very, very well said. That’s amazing advice. Just choosing to embrace that tension and to embrace being out of your comfort zone is something that we could all learn, whether we’re starting a business or not, so thank you so much for sharing that.For our final question , we have a fun one: As a female entrepreneur, who is one #girlboss that is currently inspiring you and why?
Talia: I would say Brené Brown has been very inspirational to me over the last several months. At the beginning of the pandemic, she had launched her podcast that I listened to quite regularly. Her research and career has been around vulnerability and finding power within vulnerability. I would recommend her podcast, her books or her Netflix special to anybody who wants to reflect on their goals and their self-growth. I just think she’s fabulous. Do you listen to her podcast or anything like that?
Ashley: Yes! We’re big fans of Brené at SPPR.
Talia: I love her. Maybe we can figure out how to send her some Sweet Crude!
Ashley: That would be awesome. Thank you so much for your time today, Talia, and for everyone for tuning into this series. For anyone reading, where can they find you online?
Talia. You can find us at Sweet Crude online at our website, www.thesweetcrude.com and at the same handle @thesweetcrude on Instagram and Facebook. If you go to our website, we have a text community where you can share you number to receive fun messages from us about CBD, terpenes, and behind the scenes of what’s going on at Sweet Crude. We love Instagram and are quite active there – it’s also a really great resource if you’re curious to learn more about terpenes, the terpenes that are included in Sweet Crude, or anything else around the topic of CBD &. terpenes.
That’s a wrap! Thank you so much for reading along and hanging out with Ashley & Talia for today’s interview. Do you have any other questions for Talia? Drop ’em below!
Are you PR ready but not sure how to find the right agency partner? It’s so important to find the right PR partner to serve as an extension of your brand! To lend a helping hand, we’ve put together the top 5 questions below to help you narrow in on the best match while interviewing agencies.
If you’re not sure if your brand is ready for PR, check out recent checklist on our past blog post. This will serve as a great guide to help you prepare your brand to make the most out of your PR partnership before starting your agency search.
What is your niche within the PR industry? It’s important to understand the verticals a PR company specializes in since that is where their relationships with media, influencers, and strategy will be strongest. E.g. If you’re a food brand, it isn’t ideal to work with a specialized fashion or tech PR company. This goes for their service offerings as well – if you want to focus on influencer marketing, ensure that is one of their strengths.
Who and how many people will be working on our account and who are they? It’s important to get to know the actual team working on your account since they will be the acting extension of your brand. Developing a strong working relationship with these team members will increase strong communication and make your PR investment work harder for you.
Can you share case studies of other work you’ve executed that’s relevant to my brand’s size, vertical, and growth goals? While it’s impressive to see an agency’s top showcased work, it’s important to align on expectations for your specific brand in their stage of growth. If you’re an emerging brand, it’s more telling to see how a PR company grew an account with similar goals rather than a challenger brand’s work.
What will you need from me in order to make this the most effective PR program & partnership? This includes but is not limited to resources, time, meetings, video & image assets, etc.
What is your financial model? Each PR company is set up differently and thus may have different financial or billing models. This can range from monthly retainers to project fees with different payment terms.
Any questions? Leave us a comment below or shoot us a DM on Instagram at @sodapoppr!
In our ever-changing industry, it seems like everyone understands marketing, but is unsure about what PR is. PR stands for public relations, which can include everything from publicity, brand building, reputation management, and more. It’s how a brand or organization communicates and releases new information to the public and builds a relationship with consumers.
Need a better grasp on PR? Let’s chat about what PR is NOT by breaking down these 5 myths about public relations.
1. You don’t need PR. Many shy away from PR because they don’t think they need it. PR not only serves as a way to built brand affinity and drive sales & CTAs, but it also builds your reputation. What your audience knows about your brand affects their perception and purchase power.
2. PR is a quick fix. Some brands think that PR is a quick fix to help them reach a short-term KPI, but an effective campaign requires research, planning, relationship building, strategic execution and more. Earning trust and the ear of media to generate earned media placements can take months to generate.
3. Earned media is all that you need. In the digital space today, earned media can do amazing things for your brand, but the PR space is filled with different tactics like influencer marketing, brand partnerships, sampling experiences, events and more that create an integrated PR effort and work even harder for you than earned media alone.
4. PR is not worth the investment. Hiring the right agency partner can be a great investment for your brand and often costs less than hiring on a full-time employee. By hiring a trusted PR partner, you’ll be investing in a dedicated extension of your brand who already has the skills and tools to help you identify your audience, strategy, and messaging.
5. PR is professional BS. It seems like everyone thinks public relations today is about telling “fake” news and putting a negative spin on stories. While we know that there are some individuals who treat PR that way, the truth is that PR is about storytelling in an authentic way – no lies or covering things up. While there is strategy in crafting these stories – similar to how a sales team creates a strategy – PR pros are working to help brands have honest conversations and connection with their audiences.
Business is growing and you’re ready to kick things up a notch but how do you know when it’s time to invest in PR? We’ve got you!
The world of public relations be overwhelming when you’re just jumping in, so we’ve put together a quick checklist that will serve as your guide to help you prepare your brand to make the most out of your PR partnership.
Strong Brand Assets
The assets below will help establish you as a professional and leader in your industry. Having cohesive branding with strong social and imagery is essential, while a brand spokesperson will help you connect further with your audience and media. Here’s what we suggest having locked in:
Cohesive website, branding & social
No major re-brand or changes upcoming
Social [resence
Consistency & community
Dedicated rep managing social
Imagery
On brand, high res product & lifestyle shots
Images that will pop in a story and on social
Brand spokesperson
New News
What’s happening for your brand? To be PR ready, it’s important to have something newsworthy to share. Some examples of what this could look like include:
An upcoming brand moment
A product launch or line extension
A product innovation
An untold founder story
Distribution
Where can consumers find or purchase your product? Distribution can help determine which outlets will cover your brand . Examples of types of distribution include:
Regional
National
Online purchase
Samples
Samples hold so much power! How likely are you to share with your friends about how great something is after you’ve tried it for yourself? Exactly! Generosity goes a long way in getting your brand out there, so be ready to commit to sharing a branded experience for opportunities such as:
Media samples
Influencer samples
Social collaborations
Giveaways
Donation opportunities
Relationship Building
Have any more questions about how to prep your brand for working with a PR team? Pop them down below. If you are ready to hit go and partner with a PR team, we’d love to talk! Shoot us an email at sayhi@sodapop-pr.com.
By working with influencers, we have the privilege of interacting with many unique voices and endless forms of creative content. We love what we do!
Ashley here (find me at @abhud) and today, we are highlighting Hispanic influencers that create content in both English and Spanish to represent their heritage and meaningfully connect with their multicultural audiences. As a Mexican-American myself with strong ties to my Hispanic roots, it is special to me to showcase the following women that take the time to make what they create accessible to their audience and a celebration of their culture.
For any brands reading this, we always encourage you to consider the multicultural segment of your audience and add influencers to your campaign mix that can authentically connect with that audience.
Here is a list of 5 bilingual, Hispanic influencers to follow and add to your next campaign:
A Venezuelan living in Los Angeles, Rosana features beautiful baking content with all types of classic American and Latin-inspired baked goods. She also started Food Media School, an online photography school teaching other content creators and aspiring food photographers how to hone their photography skills and build their businesses.
Raised in Chile and based in South Florida, Jeannette is an award-winning parenting author, TV host, mom and blogger. She is the founder of Hispana Global, a lifestyle platform whose mission is to connect bicultural women and mothers with resources as it relates to family, fashion, travel, philanthropy and technology.
From San Juan, Puerto Rico, Dev creates delicious everyday dessert recipes with stunning photos to match. She also hosts baking workshops in both English and Spanish and features engaging step-by-step videos on how to make her recipes.
A Mexican living in Chicago, Laura specializes in healthy homemade food on her two different platforms, Las Recetas de Laura featuring all Spanish content and Spicy Latina Mom featuring all English content. She aims to teach women and moms to make delicious, healthy recipes without sacrificing flavor and nutritional value.
A Mexican based in Texas, Alejandra develops vegan and plant-based recipes for her multicultural audience. Her goal is to inspire moms to get in the kitchen and cook tasty, healthy meals for their families.
If you have any additional bilingual, Hispanic influencers you’d like to celebrate or for us to consider in upcoming campaigns, feel free to send us an email: sayhi@sodapop-pr.com or connect with us on Instagram: @sodapoppr
We love any excuse to celebrate and give gifts, including Valentine’s Day! This year we’re all about the gifts that mean an indulgent #selfcaresunday (the 14th is on a Sunday this year), tasty treats and lots of joy!
Enjoy shopping from our swoon-worthy gift guide filled with ideas perfect for your BFFs, loved ones and even yourself! XOXO, SPPR
Love Letters Candle: We’re love Homesick candles! Send the scent of love letters to your boo to let them know you’re thinking of them.
Delight From Paris Be Mine Mini Box: We are obsessing with these sweet, sweet cookies from female-founded, LA-based brand Delight Patisserie. This cute mini box comes with 6 cookies that are handmade and hand-packed with love.
NOW Love at First Scent Essential Oil Kit: The sweetest variety of blends including Bergamot, Cinnamon Cassia, Rose Absolute and their Naturally Loveable essential oil blend. If your friends and family don’t own an oil diffuser by now, make it a set by adding on NOW’s diffuser.
Three for Tea Wander Puzzle: We love these art-driven puzzles created by female owned + founded Wander Puzzle Co. They also donate a portion of all sales to African Social Enterprises, Feeding America and the Women’s Center for Advancement.
Seek & Swoon Valentine Baby Throw: How can you not love this sweet little throw from S&S? Perfect for friends and family with littles!
Sweet Crude Sampler Pack: Add an entirely new level of chill to your at home Valentine’s Date or virtual girls night with Sweet Crude’s sampler pack including both the OG Tonic and Mellow Mule. Female-founded and based in Austin, TX!
Rodelle’s Organic Hot Cocoa Mix: No better reason to cozy up with a hot drink, right? We’re loving Rodelle’s brand refresh and couldn’t love their hot cocoa more!
Farmgirl Flowers Bouquet: Their Valentine’s Day shop is stocked with some of the prettiest blooms. Choose from wrapped bouquets, pretty vase accessories and they even have some fun gift bundles.
New Year means new snacks, and like always Thrive Market does not disappoint. We’re looking for more from our snacks and prioritizing functional and better-for-you options that don’t sacrifice flavor and still satisfy cravings. This month here’s what we’re adding to the rotation:
Popcorn is already one of the healthiest foods on the planet and Living Intentions Superfood Popcorn with Probiotics adds tons of flavor and some added health perks, including anti-inflammatory superfood turmeric and live active cultures from added probiotics that are known to influence gut health.
Key Values: Certified Organic, Gluten-Free, Vegetarian, Vegan, Cholesterol-Free, Low Sugar, Non-GMO, No Added Sugar or Sweeteners, Pesticide-Free
Core & Rind’s is a woman-owned brand that creates creamy and dairy free cheese sauces made from cashews and other whole, real, plant-based ingredients. The sauces’ texture is perfect for macaroni and cheese, dipping vegetables or topping nachos.
The Cadore Family bought wine vineyards in the Brescia Province in 1954, launching the modern winemaking business that continues today and is managed by the original owner’s great granddaughter, Patrizia Cadore.
Key Values: Sustainably-farmed, Pesticide-free, No added sugar or sweeteners
Cocomels offers dairy-free coconut milk caramels and when sprinkled with sea salt they deliver a craveable salty and sweet combination. Cocomel caramels use coconut milk as the key ingredient instead of cream which make them dairy-free and vegan.
We love how Thrive Market makes organic brands and healthier food options more accessible with wholesale prices. They carry more than 6,000 healthy products and if you find a product cheaper elsewhere, they’ll match the price.
Pop Talk 
