influencers
Tips for Pitching Your Brand to Food and Beverage Industry Influencers with Food PR Packages
One of the top trends in PR today is influencer marketing. In fact, according to Statista, the influencer marketing industry increased from $1.7 billion to 13.8 billion dollars in the last five years. As such, we think it's proven to be more than a trend, particularly for brands in the food and beverage industry. Here’s how influencers can help your brand and how you can reach them with food PR packages.
The Impact of Influencers in the Food and Beverage Industry
There’s almost nothing better than a great meal with family or sharing drinks with friends. It’s such a part of our culture as Americans that we love to talk about it just about as much as we love to experience it. Enter the popularity of food and beverage influencers. The foodies, the chefs, the cocktail experts, the health conscious, and more create some of the most engaging content on social media, and consumers lap it up because it’s more credible and more real when coming from someone they follow, trust, and, in some sense, have gotten to know. And brands are not only taking note but also looking at how to capitalize on the ‘influence’ of influencers in their PR strategy to help:
- Reach the right audience
- Build engagement with that audience
- Increase sales
- Increase brand awareness
- Build credibility for your brand and/or restaurant
Promote Your Brand with Food PR Packages
Now that we’ve established the impact influencer marketing can have in the food and beverage industry, the question becomes, how can your brand reach these influencers? First, you need to identify the influencers whose niche aligns best with your brand and then create a food PR package that includes:
1. An appropriate level of value
You don’t want to seem like you’re buying their review, but want to provide a substantial enough product or product package to give them a true brand experience.
2. Products that are easy to ship
This can be tricky for food and beverage brands but you want to make sure the product isn’t so temperature specific or so easily breakable that it could arrive damaged or spoiled. That certainly wouldn’t leave a good impression.
Products that look good on social – Make their job easy with an eye-catching product or food PR package that they can share with followers. Remember, they love posting the un-boxing experience!
3. Consider the packaging too
The idea is to give them the full brand experience (as much as possible anyway) and that includes the packaging as well. Use materials with your brand colors, make sure it has your logo on it, and any other brand touches that will help it stand out.
4. Write them a personal note
DO NOT send a form letter in your package. One, influencers in the food and beverage industry follow each other too so they’re likely to see what the others post. And two, you’re trying to build a positive relationship with them, and the best way to do that is with a personal touch. Show that you’re familiar with them specifically, briefly describe the purpose of your food PR package, and thank them for giving your brand a try.
5. Include talking points
You could do this in the note or on a separate piece of paper; include a description of the product(s), the benefits, how to use them, and any other key information. Should they decide to post about your brand, this will not only make their job easier but also ensure they present your products in the way you want them represented.
Outsource Your Food PR Packages
So, that’s a lot, we know! But you want to get this right. Food and beverage influencers have a direct line to your customers and potential customers so just as easily as they can promote your product, they can share negative experiences, too. Many small businesses simply don’t have the time or the expertise in this area, that’s where we come in! R team is not only experienced in food and beverage industry PR, but we also have strong influencer relationships here already! Which means we know how to reach who you need to reach and exactly how to get them excited about your brand.
We would love to help with your food PR packages. Learn more about our public relations services and schedule your FREE Discovery Call today!
Best Practices for Podcast Interviews
You’ve been invited to be a guest on a podcast, how exciting! Being interviewed on podcasts is a great way to highlight you and your brand in a fun, personal, and interactive way. Podcasts also have engaged and active listeners who may differ from your regular market, so it’s a great way to broaden your reach too! But if you’ve never done podcast interviews before, the experience can be intimidating. So we’ve created a checklist to help ease the process and make you better prepared!
Best Practices for Podcast Interviews
1. The Prep Work:
- Listen to a few episodes of the podcast
- Do your research!
- Listening to the podcast is a great way to learn about the host(s), the show’s format, and the overall tone of the podcast.
- Prepare your pitch
- What makes you unique and interesting to listen to?
- Preparing a pitch allows you to brainstorm your angle and be ready for an insightful conversation.
2. The Day Of:
- Get camera-ready
- Podcasts are often recorded. Make sure you look your best so you feel your best!
- Check your technology
- Make sure all your gear is working properly and allow time to troubleshoot and resolve any issues beforehand. (See the gear checklist below.)
- Minimize distractions
- Silence all notifications (phone, watch, computer, etc).
- Minimize all background noise such as TVs or music.
- Move into a room away from pets, children, significant others, friends, etc.
- Drink water
- Keep a glass of water nearby so you can hydrate throughout the interview.
- Tip: be sure to sip, not chug, so that the noise doesn’t pick up on the microphone.
3. The Gear:
- Microphone/AirPods
- Using AirPods or a microphone can help isolate background noise and ensure sound quality.
- Proper lighting
- Many podcasts are recorded for promotional purposes!
- Bright and clear lighting increases professionalism and makes for a more visually appealing interview. Ring lights or natural lighting work great!
- Your background
- Backgrounds should be simple, clean, and professional. You can show your personality through shelf decor, plants, and artwork.
- Tip: avoid windows in your background as they create a glare. Instead, try sitting toward (looking out) the window for bright, natural light!
San Antonio’s Top Influencers and How They Can Help Your Lifestyle Brand
Influencers have become an essential part of public relations strategy, not just for large brands, but for EVERY brand. In fact, the influencer industry is worth $5 to $10 billion according to Social Media Today which is even more amazing because the word itself was just added to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary in 2019. But, regardless of how new, its ‘influence’ should be taken seriously in helping your lifestyle brand to get noticed. Here’s how they can help, along with 10 of San Antonio’s top influencers.
How Influencers Can Help Your Brand
Early on, influencers were primarily celebrities. But celebrity endorsements can be hard to come by and can be expensive. But there are plenty of ‘regular people’ who have built a rapport with their followers as experts on specific topics or in specific categories through their blogs or social media posts, for example. As such they are seen more like trusted friends or peers with credible recommendations on products/services that they actually use. Influencers can help your lifestyle brand by:
- Improving content strategy – With more avenues for fresh content that showcases your brand.
- Improving brand awareness – Through word-of-mouth which still has high engagement even when advertising is too often tuned out.
- Strengthens brand credibility – Because you’re associated with influencers your target audience trusts.
- Creates hype – Influencers are walking-talking endorsements that know how to attract attention.
- Boosts your SEO – With additional links to your targeted keywords.
San Antonio’s Top Influencers
Certainly, you want to find influencers with a strong following, but they don’t need millions to make an impact. Often, it’s those on a smaller scale (less than 500K) who have the most engaged followers which are perfect for lifestyle brands targeting specific niches or locations. Here are our top 10 San Antonio influencers (in no particular order).
1. @s.a.foodie | 274K Followers
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San Antonio native Amanda Spencer has won Best Instagram Influencer in the Current’s “Best of San Antonio” reader poll. She posts about food, travel, and more.
2. @quemeanswhat | 9,023 Followers
A 7th Generation Texan, Melanie Mendez-Gonzales explores Latino identity in and around San Antonio focusing on education, entertainment, and family life.
3. @stine.eats | 6,989 Followers
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Through her gorgeous photos, you can explore local eats and drinks with San Antonio foodie, Christine Wong, who also can’t resist the occasional fur baby shot.
4. @getfitwithashley | 134K Followers
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This fitness guru, Army veteran, and mom of three is here with fitness and food tips to help others get fit and be their best selves.
5. @SATX-Rated | 17.6K Followers
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Self-described “San Antonio’s Food & Fun Ambassadors,” follow them to learn about all the fun things to do in SA along with where to eat and drink.
6. @sanantoniostephanie | 14.1K Followers
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A finalist in MYSA’s "2022 Your SA Readers' Choice Awards" for Local Social Media Influencer, she posts about food, drinks, and fun in San Antonio.
7. @alamofoodie | 36K Followers
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Her bio promises “Experiences, bites, booze,” and that’s exactly what you’ll find on this influencer’s Insta.
8. @flicksandfood | 5,457 Followers
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Johnnie is always up-to-date on the latest goings on in San Antonio and beyond.
9. @liveitupsa | 30K Followers
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This influencer explores all the cool stuff to do in San Antonio, as well as sharing delectable eats and boozy treats with some fashion and art mixed in to boot.
10. @goodtastetv | 14.3K Followers
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Emmy-award-winning journalist and one of our fave clients, Tanji Patton, shares food, wine, and restaurant tips not just in San Antonio but all over Texas.
11. @siempre_sanantonio | 13.9K Followers
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One of the top TikToker’s in Texas (2,200,000 likes!!), you can always tell when she on your FYP sharing the next spot to check out when you hear “Hey, friends”!
12.@sanantoniomunchies |45K Followers
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Come to his page for the tasty food finds and stay for the memes and hot takes.
13. @salovelist |15.2K Followers
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From coffee to cocktails, Gabby’s tried it all and shared it on their page. Sometime their chi-oui-nie, Quebec, makes a guest appearance who has their own Insta too, at @badweenie.
14. @socializesanantonio |25.3K Followers
Jesse’s Instagram is puro San Antonio! Celebrating the city’s events and culture through food and fun, he shares all the exciting things happening around town.
15. @jesselizarraras |10.1K Followers
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The former Food + Nightlife Editor for the Current and now the Executive Producer at MySA, Jessica has her finger on the pulse of all things San Antonio.
16. @christina_coker | 23K Followers
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This mom of four and life and style influencer shares the latest style trends along with tips for staying beautiful and fashionable on a budget.
17. @saraharoundsa | 2,672 Followers
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Some of the best spots and best food photography can be found on Sarah’s feed. The San Antonio native knows where to find the hidden gems and local faves.
18. @jazzexploring | 6,787 Followers
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Looking for some travel or fashion inspiration? Jaslyn shares her journey’s via IG, also while dressing really cute!
19. @letsbinge | 4,365 Followers
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Feel like one of the Castillo sisters with all the shenanigans that goes down on their feed and in Instagram story’s.
20. @twentysomethingsa | 27.2 Followers
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Supporting local is what Twenty Something SA is all about! Through socially impactful content they highlighting businesses, creatives and the city’s unique beauty.
For R help with using influencers as part of your public relations strategy, Click HERE to schedule a FREE Discovery Call Today!
Influencer Marketing: How Social Media’s Influence on PR Benefits Your Brand
Gone are the days of painstaking research to build accurate media lists, of phone pitches, of basing announcements on publication dates, and of waiting, sometimes for months, to see if you were published via press clips received – gasp – by mail! As social media has evolved, it has elevated PR right along with it to the cheers of us professionals and the benefit of the brands we represent. So what is influencer marketing, and how does social media’s influence on PR benefit your brand? Here’s how.
The Purpose of PR
The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) defines PR as “a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.” You do this by influencing, engaging, and building a positive relationship and/or image with your audience.
Many confuse PR with marketing, but it’s actually quite different. One big difference is in the amount of control you have over the narrative. In marketing, you pay to place an ad with your message; in PR, the amount of coverage, and in essence, your brand’s perception depends solely on your access to and/or relationship with the media. Or, at least it did…before social media.
Using Social Media in PR
Essentially, social media helps us to break down the invisible wall that once stood between brands and their audience(s). It’s no longer just about going through the media with your story and praying for the best. Social media can help you to meet your brand’s PR goals by:
- Working with Influencers – These people give your brand a voice in a way neither you nor a media story could do on its own. Influencers have huge followings that you can tap into to promote your products or services and help with reputation management.
- Social Listening – PR was more reactionary in the past, but with social media, you can keep your finger on the pulse of public perception of your brand. This enables you to proactively respond to any issues that might come up and better understand your customers in general.
- Using Your Platform(s) – Again, it’s about controlling the narrative as best you can. Social media can help you do that much more swiftly, if not immediately when necessary. Today’s news cycle is 24/7, so getting your story on social platforms can also influence the angle of media coverage as journalists do their share of social listening as well.
- Creating Real Relationships – Social media allows you to engage your audience directly with content that’s not only newsworthy but also important to their needs and where they are in the sales cycle. Think blogs, how-to guides, FAQs, and even related content that ties with your brand that could help them.
- Improving Media Relations– Social media is an integral part of PR now, but it doesn’t replace the importance of good media relationships. It can make that easier, however. Most journalists are active on social media and publicly list their handles. You can use this to learn more about their beats, when they need resources, how they prefer to work, as well as their personal and professional interests. Depending on your industry, you could include bloggers in this as well!
All this being said, be careful with a do-it-yourself PR strategy. It’s certainly easy enough to post, but appropriate messaging, knowing how to work with influencers and media, social listening savvy, and the ability to effectively measure results is key.
R team has extensive PR experience, and we’d love to help your brand. See how by clicking HERE to schedule a FREE Discovery Call Today!
20 Top Nashville Influencers (and what makes them so important to brands)
Image by Style Blueprint
Merriam-Webster defines an influencer as someone who inspires or guides the actions of others, or more specifically, as someone who is able to generate interest in something by posting about it on social media. Brands have taken notice and influencer marketing is now a key component of social media strategy. How do they help and who are the top Nashville influencers? Find out here.
The Influence of Influencers
According to We Are Social, 3.484 billion people actively use social media (that’s 45 percent of the world’s population if you’re counting!). What we can pretty much all attest to is that we’re sick of being marketed at from every direction, no matter how targeted it may be. Enter influencers.
Early on, influencers were primarily celebrities. Anyone ever bought anything a Kardashian plugged? You don’t have to admit it, The Guardian shares the proof. But celebrity endorsements can be hard to come by, and can cost you big.
Luckily, there are plenty of “regular people” who have built a reputation for their knowledge and expertise on specific topics or specific categories through regular social media posts. They’re seen more as trusted friends and peers and are able to generate an engaged following that pays close attention to their recommendations. While they may not have the millions of followers, these influencers can potentially drive an average of 16x higher engagement rates than celebrities , according to The Realtime Report.
Top Nashville Influencers
If you’re a lifestyle brand in Nashville looking to connect with consumers and establish trust, influencer marketing may be just the way to go. Here are our top 20 Nashville influencers (in no particular order):
- @hunterpremo | Hunter Premo | 246k followers
Nashville native Hunter Premo is the daughter of one of the city’s most sought-after makeup artists. But she’s more into fashion, sharing her boho style – and her life – with tens of thousands of followers.
- @malloryervin | Mallory Ervin | 543k followers
After competing in Miss America as well as The Amazing Race (and gaining a following from that), Ervin is an influencer on topics that range from marriage and kids to fashion and female empowerment.
- @nashvillefoodfan | Kate Davis | 97.1k followers
Born out of a desire to share her love of Nashville’s culinary scene, Davis’ Instagram has now become the place to inspire foodies or anyone exploring local restaurants to try.
- @livingwithlandyn | Living With Landyn | 270k followers
This influencer and blogger shares her tips on food, fashion, and family plus offers tons of “swipe up” retail codes and life hacks.
- @happilygrey | Mary Lawless Lee | 54.8k followers
The Happily Grey founder posts beautifully curated pictures from her life as a fashionista, businesswoman, wife, new mom, and dog lover.
- @passportsandgrub | Tomiko | 10.8k followers
Tomiko provides all kinds of travel tips and she also works to help brands shift the culture on diversity in tourism.
- @iamreneewatkins | Renee Watkins | 68.2k followers
This yoga instructor and doula posts fitness and beauty tips as well as body-positive messages and book recommendations.
- @cameronpremo | Cameron Premo | 15.9k followers
Husband to Hunter Premo, this photographer/videographer is an influencer in his own right on topics that include adventure, style, and chivalry for the modern gentleman.
- @erinoprea | Erin Oprea | 182.7k followers
She’s a trainer to local celebrities with a feed that shares workout tips, healthy recipes, and videos from her weekly Saturday night dance party with husband Sean.
- @emilyblincoe | Emily Blincoe | 362.5k followers
This photographer came to Nashville by way of Austin and posts snaps of everything from walks in the park with her pups to front yard hangs and the beauty of everyday life here.
- @wickedtasty | Dan Burkard | 9.4k followers
This power duo of Michelle and Dan came to Nashville by way of New England and we are all the more hungry for their food photos for it! Their posts and snaps of recipes, top lists of fab food finds, happy hours and more are not to be missed!
- @nashgirleats | Holly | 21.4k followers
Holly is a nurse practitioner who loves exploring some of the hottest restaurants and dishes in Nashville. She also shares some of her own dishes on her feed.
- @the_ moody_foody | Josh | 10.2 followers
Josh’s blog reviews the best restaurants in Nashville and offers fun insights into the dining scene while all the mouth-watering finds are shared on Insta.
- @nashvillewifestyles | Ashley Houston | 132k followers
Ashley is a girl mom (and a dog mom) with a lifestyle blog that dishes on food, the latest fashion trends, parenting tips and life in Nashville where she’s lived for 10 years.
- @thehungryleopard | Blair Beaty | 5.5k followers
Blair overcame hunger herself and now shares her foodie experiences across Nashville and beyond.
- @blonde_voyage_nashville | Courtney Hood | 13.4k followers
This native Nashvillian blogs about food and lifestyle as she brings us along on her epic travel adventures near and far.
- @nashvillevibin | Neysha Clevenger | 6.7k followers
She’s your go-to girl for all things Nashville sharing delicious food as well as local clothing and cool snaps of our awesome city!
- @pocketsandbows | Brittany | 48.5k followers
Brittany is a creator, influencer and stylist who delivers daily inspiration for luxe plus fashion on Instagram and YouTube.
- @fabglance | Melissa | 11.5k followers
Melissa is a digital strategy expert who brings authentic storytelling back to social media. In her spare time she shares the best plus size fashion trends and tips.
- @lauraleabalanced | Laura Lee | 86.4k followers
Chef Laura Lee has a background in health-related cooking and shares healthy, delicious recipes, meal plans and insights into her.
For R help with influencer marketing, click HERE to schedule a FREE Discovery Call today!
Image by Nashville Lifestyles
10 Ways To Help Small Businesses Right Now!
We are the behind-the-curtain folks, the weavers of words, the people that help share passion and spread good news! I am writing this as, like many of you and like most of the world, I want to save all the restaurants and bars, and help small businesses from the hardships being immediately faced. I feel like every morning I wake up and see someone else I care about posting about making a hard decision with their business, and it seems that although we are practicing things like “social distancing”—a phrase I never have used in my life as both an extrovert and a lover of people—we are also in the midst of times where supporting and giving services is needed more than ever.
As communications pros, we can be a beacon of hope during these strange and difficult times—we are the messengers to the media, we are the media, we move the needle from fear to fearless by being courageous and creative innovators in a time of great need! So I ask, HOW can we help—now? I’ve listed some of R teams ideas below on ways to help small businesses, and support clients, media friends, and most of all each other. Let us know what you’d add, too, we are here to bounce ideas, support, and help small businesses! Let’s do this!
1. Pick up the phone
Get off email and CALL your people—they need you. They’re reading the news and social media and seeing their friends close down and make difficult decisions—offer creative solutions that can help them weather this storm (an abbreviated but awesome take-out menu, clever delivery options, etc). Read this again, CALL and connect, it makes a world of difference—trust me.
2. Source ideas with other professionals.
If you are like me, you have been writing crisis communication plans, scraping all the content you planned for this month and next and next and gearing up for a daily swipe of your ideas—you need some creative support! Call, text, and email fellow communications pros! This is the time to give extra hours, time, and talents to each other to support the world of small businesses. THIS is our time to really support each other and get over any fear that someone will take your client or idea. In this case, we all need to save this sinking ship for EVERYONE and we are the answers.
3. Be a marketing genius
During the Great Depression, furniture stores offered free incentives called “Depression glass” (like a plate or a teacup) and people went wild shopping for furniture just to get the free glasses, even when they didn’t have much. Today a tiny Depression tea glass is worth $25-$75 (some more), and these were given out for free to our grandmothers. Who came up with that idea? A MARKETING GENIUS, that’s who. Us marketing pros are the people behind the curtain and we get to show off our most genius ideas—often in the most desperate times.
Just this week alone I have seen café owners delivering goods, celebrities reading storybooks online, museums offering free tours, and even Disney taking viewers on virtual rides. The internet is blowing up and our ideas are just waiting to take off and find value with our clients. So do what you need to be risky and wise and get someone to sign up for something they never thought they would—it WILL work!
4. Be calm + confident
Be confident, be collected, and know this too shall pass. If we hold our visions our clients will too, and we are the ones who help document and execute those visions. So it is up to us to be calm in the storm when they need to freak out because their business is taking turns they never imagined. Be confident. Know you were hired because you are smart, talented and clients can count on you to share their message—that’s you!
5. Be mindful
Be mindful of your words instead of “hard times” change that up for “things are constantly changing” instead of “closing” change that up for “we will open as soon as we can.” Words have power and now more than ever WE are responsible for encouraging clients and media to lessen the drastic language and fear and see things as a work in progress. As the truth is this is actually a golden opportunity to be creative with businesses. Those that know how to pivot and stay calm will be the ones on top after the storm blows over.
6. Be generous with your time
We need to write more blog posts, edit more press releases and help more than we probably ever have before—now is the time to get our boots dirty. It’s hard work, but so worth it!
7. Shop, shop, shop
Buy all the things—get merch, get gift cards, and practice what you are preachin’ sister!
8. Make your pitches short and sweet
And with all information in digestible deets—who, what, where, and website links—and nothing else! We don't want to make more work for our media friends who are getting more emails than ever right now.
9. Share other people’s creative work
Not just your clients! Ask and offer fellow comm friends ways you can lend a helping hand! Giving truly makes the world of difference in stressful situations.
10. BE KIND
Be kind to yourself included, take a bath, do an online yoga class, pour a glass of wine at the end of the day, whatever gets you to zen. You can’t save the world if you aren’t taking care of you and from there sprinkle out the good witch vibes and let people know they have had the power to change and shift and grow within them the whole time. (‘nuff said).
From friends in the comm worlds:
“Entertain and engage! This is the time to show your audience your brand value through digital marketing by giving them what they need the most right now. Something to do. You literally have a captive audience, so don’t waste that opportunity with your average content. Find creative ways to entertain and engage your audience. A great way to do that is through mixed media: video, graphics, motion graphics, email campaigns, etc. Create giveaways, quizzes, and games! The more your audience feels supported by your brand during this time, the more brand loyalty they will reciprocate when things go back to normal.” Sarah Wlliams (digital marketing guru)
Have something to add and help small businesses? Please share!
From Sequins & Suspenders to Oh, Eleanora: A RebRand That Captured R Attention
In 2014, Ellie Leeper started a San Antonio lifestyle blog with her fiancé Dan Morrison. At the time, she'd seen plenty of local ladies blogging, but there weren't many couples highlighting the enriching lifestyle that she felt our city had to offer. As a mutual hobby project, she and her now husband Dan started Sequins & Suspenders.
The blog was a fun way to document cultural events, life at Pearl, wedding planning and personal style. As she became more comfortable creating and maneuvering in the digital space, Ellie took over the blog’s content management while working full time during the day as the Public Relations Manager for a local nonprofit pediatric healthcare organization. But over the summer of 2016, she started wondering about her career direction and her passions in life. "I started having the what am I doing with my life thoughts," Ellie said.
Toward the end of the summer, the Universe seemed to send her the message she was asking for. However, she wasn’t expecting the way it was delivered: on a Friday afternoon in mid-September, her entire professional life changed unexpectedly, flipping her world completely upside down. Her company had a huge round of layoffs and Ellie was the first of the 30+ cut. She was fired. It was a devastating blow, but the timing couldn't have been more perfect. Ellie picked herself up by the bootstraps, and she took the rest of 2016 to explore where her heart actually wanted to be. She hadn't considered blogging as a career path, but the more she wrote, the more she started to realize that it was one area of her life that fulfilled her.
She'd been struggling to find herself after the firing. Feelings of inadequacy and questions of her professional worth had started to haunt her. She knew that in order to overcome this obstacle and turn her situation into a positive, she had to grow something of her own that was rooted in honesty and authenticity: a validation of her voice, her efforts and her talents. She needed to create the soul project that would get her back in the game- but in the right way. (She wrote an inspiring post about this time period, and how to overcome rejection and use it in your favor. We highly recommend reading it HERE.)
After some soul searching, Ellie decided to make a go of professional blogging toward the end of 2016. But she knew that her site needed a fresh perspective and the perfect personalized name. It was time for a rebRand
As a place to start this process, Ellie looked to her past for clues about her character and how others perceived her. After thinking about her personal relationships, she realized that many friends relied on her as both a confidant, and also the friend who influenced and motivated those around her to reach for their dreams. Ellie realized she was someone people liked to open up to, and it fulfilled her to be that person for her friends.
It was during the holidays last year, when she was around her extended family and most in-touch with who and what made her the person she is, when she realized that the new blog direction was going to be one with mission and focus. It would be quality content that encouraged her digital female friends to create the lives they wanted to lead.
Although undecided on the name, she knew she would be incorporating motivational and inspirational posts into her new brand as something that would set her apart from the typical style blogger. She wanted her new platform to be a source of encouragement for women who needed a cheerleader. It was what her friends and colleagues seemed to need. But deep down, it's what she needed too.
After returning from the holidays and getting back into her routine, it was now a New Year, and time to decide on the new name for her revamped blog. She thought about the times she felt most herself…the most natural. Ellie is known by those closest to her for her big and entertaining personality. As a child, she loved to be silly and funny and “perform” for her family. Every time she would show her joyful, theatrical, silly self, her mother and grandmother would lovingly say, "Oh, Eleanora." As soon as this memory surfaced, a light bulb went off in her head: Ellie knew that this had to be her personal bRand. Immediately, she went to work designing her new website.
The world knew her as Ellie, but family knew her as Eleanora. She was named after her great-grandmother, and Ellie felt a strong sense of self-identity in her full name. It was that feeling of belonging that really led her to her new brand.
Ellie was done trying to be what everyone else was, and do what everyone else was doing. Her new brand identity was born from a very real place. Her “why” revealed itself organically, authentically, and it was true to who she was inside.
Oh, Eleanora took off like lightning. Ellie added new editorial features, such as the popular Grit + Grace profiles, that are a public space for women’s inspiring stories to be celebrated and encouraged. "Why would women only want to read about me?" Ellie said. "There are so many ladies in my personal and professional networks who are doing amazing things. If I featured one per week, I would have editorial content for years."
And she was right. The greatest traffic on her site comes from these features of women leading the lives they love. She is passionate about highlighting the ways in which women can have it all, and all of the ways women can define what "it all" means to them.
The greatest advice Ellie has for a successful rebRand is to find your "why," and then commit it to action. The more Ellie discovers who she is and how to use her voice for the benefit of others, the higher her success continues to climb. Now people across the country see her shining from deep in the heart of Texas, and we can collectively say with admiration, "Oh Eleanora!"
Written By Crystal Henry, R national pitcher all photos are credited to Oh Eleanora blog