Episode 704: Maximize Your Reach – Sponsored Posts, Media Appearances & Putting Yourself Out There With Jackie Thesing

EBT704 – Jackie Thesing

Intro 00:00

Food bloggers. Hi, how are you today? Thank you so much for tuning in to the Eat Blog Talk podcast. This is the place for food bloggers to get information and inspiration to accelerate your blog’s growth, and ultimately help you to achieve your freedom. Whether that’s financial, personal, or professional. I’m Megan Porta. I have been a food blogger for 13 years, so I understand how isolating food blogging can be. I’m on a mission to motivate, inspire, and most importantly, let each and every food blogger, including you, know that you are heard and supported. 

[00:00:37] Megan Porta

Your blogging business is so much more than just your blog. There’s so many opportunities that I think a lot of us don’t tap into because we get so caught up in content creation and doing all the things blogging related.Jackie Tessing from Sweet Girl Treats joins me in this amazing interview to talk about some of those things that we don’t often think about that that we could and maybe should be doing in our businesses in order to get our names out there and to maybe have access to other revenue and just network and make connections with people and get more blog traffic.

[00:01:17]   

And those things include doing media appearances, so getting on your local TV station maybe. Also we talk about brand sponsorships and some just highlights that we need to keep in mind when pursuing that avenue. Jackie really shares so much insight about how to get on tv, how to do interviews. So we’re talking podcast interviews, interviews and magazines, things like that and article contributions and just putting yourself out there and acknowledging that this is very scary stuff.

[00:01:51]   

You have to reach out to people that you don’t know and maybe put yourself on news. Oh my gosh. But how worth it it is and what these opportunities can bring to your business. So many positive things. I hope you love this episode. It is episode number 704 and yeah, enjoy. 

[00:02:14]  Sponsor

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[00:02:57]  Megan Porta

Jackie Thesing left her corporate job in 2017 to stay home full time with her daughter. Since then, she has welcomed two more children and started her dessert blog, Sweet Girl Treats. She launched the blog as a way to find something for herself outside of motherhood, and it has turned into so much more.Jackie, so great to have you on the podcast. How are you doing today?

[00:03:19]  Jackie Thesing 

I am great. Thanks so much for having me. I’m really excited to chat with you today.

[00:03:24]  Megan Porta 

Same! We’re going to talk about all those things that we could and should be doing maybe, but a lot of us don’t because it’s scary and it’s extra work and that is getting those media appearances and then getting. Getting your name out there in some way. Also, we’re going to talk about brand sponsorships, but before we get to that, do you have a fun fact to share with us, Jackie?

[00:03:47]  Jackie Thesing 

Okay. A fun fact about myself that maybe isn’t as well known outside of my socials and stuff is that I’m actually 6ft 2 inches tall. I’m very tall.

[00:03:57]  Megan Porta 

Oh, my goodness. Yes, that is very tall. Wow. Yeah. And it’s amazing on Zoom, you can never tell how tall people are. So when people meet me in person, they’re always shocked at how short I am. And so I’m sure maybe same for taller people.

[00:04:17]  Jackie Thesing 

Yep, same for me. Other way around, though.

[00:04:19]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, exactly. I would love for you to tell us a little bit about Sweet Girl Treats, which is your blog. Give us the scoop on that.

[00:04:27]  Jackie Thesing 

Yeah. So my blog, Sweet Girl Treats, I started, let’s see, it was 2020, 2019. I started it after I had my second daughter. I had quit working in the corporate world to be a stay at home mom and kind of just wanted to find something for myself. So I took up baking as a hobby.

[00:04:48]   

It’s easy to feel like you get lost in motherhood. So I started baking as a hobby and I had a friend say, oh, you should start a blog. And literally, Megan, in 2019, I was like, what does that even mean? So I looked into it and was like, okay, this is where all the recipes come from.

[00:05:03]   

Okay. I think I do have a knack for this in creating my own recipes. So I started my own website, Sweet Girl Treats. I named it Sweet Girl Treats because I call both of my daughters Sweet Girl. So it’s just a fun little namesake twist there. And I just started sharing my dessert recipes on my website and then I started my socials up from there.

[00:05:24]   

And so since 2019, 2020, it’s just kind of been a slow growth for the last Five years, learned a lot. There’s still so much to learn. The food blogging world is crazy, but it’s been really fun to dabble in the different areas of, you know, blogging for my own website, making recipes for brands, demoing on TV.

[00:05:45]   

You know, there’s so many different avenues that you can go with this type of work. So it’s been really great and it’s been a blessing to do it all from home still with my kids.

[00:05:53]  Megan Porta 

And yeah, that’s wonderful. I love hearing that and it is, it’s such a, it’s such a versatile job and I think that’s why a lot of people love it because there’s so many different things to do. It’s not just the blog. You can look outside of your blog in so many ways, which is what kind of what we’re going to talk about today.

[00:06:12]   

And you touched on some of these things as you intro to your blog. So in addition to keeping up with everything on your website, you also do brand sponsorships. So would you want to start by talking a little bit about that and just like what are the basics for getting started with doing brand sponsorships?

[00:06:33]  Jackie Thesing 

Sure, yeah. So brand sponsorships is something else I dabbled into. I met two other food bloggers a couple years ago, Chelsea Peachtree, and is her Instagram handle and Pretty Delicious Life Kim. And they helped me kind of work through how you get started in that. So love them. They have really helped push me.

[00:06:52]   

So really to get started, you just pick the brands you want to work with and make a media kit. So I always say step number one, media kit and a media kit. If you don’t know what that is already, it’s just a one or two page PDF that’s going to have your website, your information, maybe a quick bio, photos, some example photos like that you do for food photography as well as your rates if you want to include them and you know, things that you could do for a brand, which we can get into that more a little bit later.

[00:07:21]   

But I got my media kit off of Canva for free. So that even that if you don’t know how to make one, just search media kit in Canva and there’s a bunch of different types that you could do and use there. But making a media kit and then starting to reach out to brands would be step one and step two.

[00:07:40]   

And for me picking those brands is the other big thing like, oh, who do I work with? And you can kind of tell from a brand, social media, if they work with creators, even if you’re not sure, it’s fine. I always start with messaging them on Instagram as my, my first step. And then from there you can kind of say, what’s the best email?

[00:07:58]   

That I could email you my media kit, or that we could talk further, best contact, et cetera. So those are kind of steps one and two.

[00:08:05]  Megan Porta 

And as far as picking which brands, I hear this a lot, that people just don’t really know where to start with that. Like, I want to work with brands. I don’t know who, though. How do you recommend people? Yeah, just get started with that.

[00:08:19]  Jackie Thesing 

Yeah, it’s great question. What I have literally done is if you have anything in your house that you’re already using, like a comm brand that you love, for sure, go with that because you actually already have something behind it. It’s, you know, what you’d be speaking to if you do work with them is, you know, true experience from, you know, you using it, cooking with it, baking with it.

[00:08:37]   

But you can also just walk into the grocery store and look at what’s on the shelves. Like me as a baker, I’ve walked in to Walmart and I’m like, what honey brands do they have here? You know, and then I’ll usually pull up the honey brands and see if they have a social presence.

[00:08:51]   

So usually that’s number one that you’re looking for. Some brands aren’t going to have a social presence, and that usually means they’re not going to work with creators. Not always, but because sometimes as we’ll get into, you can work with them not through sponsored posts, just through recipe development and such, but going to the grocery store and looking at the shelves or looking in your pantry and then hopping on social media to see if they have a presence, I would say is a great way to start.

[00:09:15]  Megan Porta 

Okay. Yeah. I mean, I feel like the brand really has to be something that you are aligned with and that you use and like, the more authentic you can be, the better, Right?

[00:09:25]  Jackie Thesing 

Absolutely. Yeah. Being authentic and actually caring about, you know, the brand’s values or that you use it on a daily basis. I mean, say you’re not married to the type of butter, the brand of butter, but make sure you’re using butter, you know, that you’re not. You know, I’m not. I’m not going to be somebody that’s selling vegan or sponsoring a vegan.

[00:09:45]   

Vegan recipes and a vegan butter, because that’s just not what my viewers are used to seeing, you know. So you also don’t want to alienate if you’re doing a sponsored post specifically on your website, you don’t want to alienate your followers and what people are expecting to see from you. For sure.

[00:10:01]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. So talk about the different types of partnerships. So you said that if a brand doesn’t have a social media presence, there are other ways to work with them. Can you just talk about those different ways to work with brands?

[00:10:13]  Jackie Thesing 

Yeah. So it can basically be, I put it in a couple of categories. So there’s the sponsored posts which you’re going to see on all of your socials and this could also delve into what else you’re doing too. Right. So sponsored posts, you could just purely do recipe development, where you’re going to develop a recipe and do food photography for a brand and they’re going to put it up on their website as their own.

[00:10:33]   

I’ve done this for a couple brands and if you go to like the recipe page on their website, you’ll see my photography, my recipe and my name is not tied to it. So that’s another way you can do this kind of in the same realm of the user generated content type stuff. If you’re doing video, where you would just give the video to the brand and it would never appear on your Instagram, Facebook, socials, or it could be all of it.

[00:10:59]   

Where it would be, I made a video, I made a recipe, I did photography, I put it on my page and they also took it and put it on their page. So it can kind of dabble in all of that depending on what they’re looking for and what you want to do.

[00:11:12]  Megan Porta 

So the first step would just be reaching out. Obviously when you reach out, what kind of script do you go with? Do you talk more about you like what you have to offer? Do you scope them out beforehand and ask what they have to offer? What route do you tend to go with that?

[00:11:30]  Jackie Thesing 

Yeah, that’s a great question. So usually I start small and really I try to get my foot in the door to see if they do work with content creators before you start to give them more information. Right. So my quick, if you have an email, great, start there. Otherwise I just start on social media, message them, say, do you work with content creators?

[00:11:49]   

I love your product. Maybe you could even throw in for a pitch like would love to create a recipe with your butter doing xyz just to give them a quick example if you wanted to. But you don’t even have to do that. Just say I love your content or I love your product.

[00:12:04]   

Do you work with creators? You could say I do recipe development, food photography, et cetera. And then who is the best person to talk to regarding working with you? And usually from there it’ll go to, you know, here’s an email and email them. So my first pitch and first touch point with the brand is.

[00:12:23]   

Doesn’t usually include my media kit or a lot of details until you get the like. Yes, we work with content creators. Here’s the email.

[00:12:31]  Megan Porta 

And how persistent are you? I know this is something else I hear all the time in our space. People get, I don’t know, just frustrated I guess, if they don’t hear back one or two or even three times. So how far do you take that?

[00:12:45]  Jackie Thesing 

Yeah, that’s a great question too. In terms of the first touch point, maybe one or two follow ups. Especially if I’m doing it say on Instagram. That’s usually a monitored space if you know they the company puts money into social media marketing. So maybe one or two spaces. But say you get an email and you’re not hearing back.

[00:13:04]   

I’m not shy to do three or four follow ups. Put I will put like a note in my calendar in one or two weeks, try again. You know, just say just following up. And I’ve even had like a third follow up come to fruition in a sponsorship like months later. So if you just stay on top of mind some of the context that you get.

[00:13:26]   

If they’re not looking for anybody at the moment, they do, they might. It might just fall on deaf ears as it seems like. But then if you stay top of mind for them when they’re looking for content creation, you know, in the busy times, fall and Christmas, they might reach out to you.So keep trying.

[00:13:41]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, okay. I’m curious, what is your favorite way to work with brands? Do you have a certain type of partnership that you enjoy more than the other?

[00:13:51]  Jackie Thesing 

That’s a great question. I do love doing just recipe development and creation and food photography in that space. I am not a video creator. I wish I was better, but I’m not. So I love the photography recipe development piece where I like stay on their side. That’s what sponsored posts, you know, you delve lightly in those, especially if you’re doing a lot of them.

[00:14:13]   

You know, you don’t want your page to look like a walking billboard, as I’ve heard people say, especially if it’s not products that you’re married to. Like I have worked with plenty of companies that I’ve used their product, but it’s not one that you might see always on in my pantry. Or there might be one that you’re really passionate about and you’re totally fine, you know, posting a couple sponsored posts from them every couple months.

[00:14:35]   

So I like to delve in both. But for sure, the recipe development, food photography side, whether that turns into a sponsored post or you know, just staying on their side without my name tied to it is I think it’s really fun to still see your work on their website, you know.

[00:14:51]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, that’s very cool. Do you have recommendations for pricing? I know that’s like the hardest question ever in the world to answer, but this is also a hang up for people. I don’t know what, where to price myself, how to go about doing that. So what are your recommendations there?

[00:15:06]  Jackie Thesing 

Yeah, that can be hard, but it’s actually been helpful for me. I’ve worked with a couple of those like influencer agencies where the brand will go to an agency and then the agency finds you. And that’s been helpful for me because they set the prices. So you’re seeing kind of a baseline. I have a feeling those prices are going to be lower than what you would get if you worked with the brand directly.

[00:15:26]   

But that does help give you like kind of the stepping stones. Those typically go off of follower counts, which I don’t always agree with. I don’t think follower count matters when it comes to what you should be paid for your recipes in your photography. Absolutely not. But what I’ve seen, if I’m just going to give you like a, a range, they would say like 0 to 5 to 10,000 followers or you know, 1 to 10,000 followers, like no less than $500 ever for doing any work like should be higher.

[00:15:55]   

But they would say, you know, 500 to 800 and then they would go up from like 10,000 followers to 20,000 followers. Might be 800 to 1 200, you know, and those numbers though are, they’re so hard for me to even say because what the amount of work that you’re doing can vary in what you should charge so much.

[00:16:14]   

Like, are you making a recipe, are you posting it to your website or to your socials, Are you doing video, Are you doing multiple photos? Are you giving them rights for longer than a month of usage? You know, there’s so many things to take into account, but that’s just to give you like a very low baseline number.

[00:16:33]  Megan Porta 

Okay, what about working for free? Do you have thoughts on that? Because I know some people feel really strongly like you should absolutely never work for product, never work for free. Do you think there’s ever a time when it’s okay to do that?

[00:16:45]  Jackie Thesing 

Yeah, I think it’s, you know, I’ve, I’ve heard a lot of opinions on this too and I totally get why people say you shouldn’t because you don’t want to bring down for the whole creator community, make a brand think that that’s acceptable to not pay for work, et cetera. But I think it’s a personal choice if you’re maybe wanting to try to get your foot in the door and you, it feels okay to you, maybe one time you could give them something.

[00:17:12]   

I’m still hesitant to say that, but or for product exchange because that product exchange is working for free too. You’ll hear people say in this community, product exchange doesn’t pay the bills, but it’s what feels right to you. I have done it a few times in the past mainly to help get my foot in the door.

[00:17:28]   

And then it’s okay. Next time we’re gonna, you know, expect payment for what we do. And it depends on what you’re doing for them too. The full scope of recipe development, food photography, posting on your website or on your socials is a big ask. And so working for free for a large ask like that, I would, I would steer against for sure.

[00:17:50]  Sponsor 

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[00:18:09] Megan Porta

Is there anything else you feel my listeners would need to know about? Just kind of brand sponsorships in general, Any little details, any advice you have for people for getting started with that?

[00:18:22]  Jackie Thesing 

Yeah, I would say just know that what you make has value and your follower count on your social media does not matter. That’s one of the biggest things that Chelsea and Kim, like I mentioned earlier, helped teach me is like the product that you’re putting out is beautiful and valuable and if you have a thousand followers versus 50,000 followers, that does not change the fact that your product is amazing.

[00:18:50]   

So don’t let, never let brands talk you down on your price. Because of your social accounts, which I have, I have gotten that and I think it’s very common. And that’s why even the influencer agencies I’ve worked with, the fact that they tier pricing based off of follower count is really frustrating to me because to me it’s the work that matters, not the follower count. So don’t let that get you down ever.

[00:19:14]  Megan Porta 

I love that encouragement and also I Have to just say, I love Chelsea and Kim. Shout out to them. They are, I know they have just such an amazing product that they deliver to content creators. But they’re also really good, nice, lovely people. So shout out to you guys. Yay. Okay, let’s move on to other opportunities.

[00:19:37]   

So I know that you are into media appearances as well, and I so strongly agree that especially now in 2025, food bloggers and content creators should be doing these things. So talk about those kind of other opportunities such as appearances, interviews, articles, etc.

[00:19:56]  Jackie Thesing 

Yeah, so I have had the like blessing of opportunities where I’ve gotten to go on local, our local news channels regularly for the last three to four years. And that’s something that those morning shows and stuff they are looking for. So regardless of where you are, if you watch the show and it seems like they have segments driven towards food and they’re looking for people to do it.

[00:20:18]   

So those appearances, media appearances specifically, have been just I. For me, it’s just a fun outlet. They are not paid typically locally, that might vary by show, but it’s more of a way, you know, where they’re sharing your website, sharing your socials. I’ve gotten to like, a lot of viewers have then come and followed me and then they, you know, make my recipes.

[00:20:40]   

I see traffic spikes every time I’m on, so that’s, it’s just been a really fun way. Like it’s a fun outlet for me to go and you get to, you know, actually visually show your recipe and chat with, you know, your local news anchors. And it’s just been for me, stepping stones to meet people too.

[00:20:58]  Megan Porta 

Is it hard to find a contact for that? I know you say that many media, like TV stations, et cetera, are looking for people to be on their shows, but how do we find them?

[00:21:10]  Jackie Thesing 

Yeah, it’s great question. So usually starting with social media is always a good start. If they have an Instagram or Facebook page, you can start there. If that doesn’t get you anywhere, reach out to the anchors that are on it. You know, people in news have their emails and they are definitely reachable.

[00:21:25]   

They’re supposed to be for their job. So reach out to the anchors that you see in your local news, you know, that are doing the morning shows or even I’m on one of the afternoon shows here locally to that focuses on like food and lifestyle. So the way that I got into that one specifically, I reached out to one of the lifestyle reporters via social media.

[00:21:45]   

And then they’ll get you into the right contact to the show’s producer, if they’re interested. Yeah. But it all just starts with putting yourself out there. You just have to ask, you know, otherwise you’re never gonna know.

[00:21:55]  Megan Porta 

Yeah. You have to do that sleuthing. Right. And it’s. And you have to be bold because it’s kind of scary to reach out in that way. Especially when these people have personas on TV and they might be a little bit intimidating. So it’s scary. But I think that it can be so fruitful.

Even if you’re not getting paid just to get your blog name out there, there’s so much value in that.

[00:22:18]  Jackie Thesing 

Absolutely. It’s just been a great opportunity and I’ve gotten to meet, you know, while you’re out and meet viewers and yeah, your blog and your name just becomes more of a known locally and that has been really helpful. Like you said, there’s not an direct necessarily like monetary income for me from it, but making sure to like talk to the producers, make sure that they’re.

[00:22:40]   

If you do get on that they’re promoting your website and your socials because that’s, that’s, you know, our bread and butter for food bloggers.

[00:22:48]  Megan Porta 

In addition to media appearances, so TV specifically, talk about interviews. I so strongly believe in doing podcast interviews and just getting your. Not only for getting your DA up because you can get your. A backlink to your site on a lot of those show notes pages, but it’s also just a good way to get connected with new audiences and meet new people and just network in really cool ways. So talk about interviews a little bit.

[00:23:20]  Jackie Thesing 

Yeah, interviews too is another great way to. I mean, I’m just going to keep going back to brands, media interviews, putting yourself out there and having confidence in your own value too, you know, like, and meeting other people. So that’s what this would be too, you know. Yeah, it’s. It’s all these different avenues of getting your name out there and forming these connections and I think interviews and one, sharing knowledge.

[00:23:45]   

Oh my gosh. In the food logging world, that’s what like that’s literally what you do. Right. You know, we’re just sharing knowledge and tips and tricks and what we’re all finding that works. And aside from being on media and TV like interviews and sharing what you’ve learned is another huge avenue and a completely different audience too.

[00:24:06]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, I know. I think this is. Interviews is such a great way to go about getting your name out there because you already have the knowledge in your head. You really don’t have to prepare much. I Mean, if you’re going to be on a podcast talking about, if you’re like a vegan baker or something, you already know everything.

[00:24:24]   

So they’re just, you’re just going to show up and talk about what you know. And it’s a way to also share your passion. And I just feel like most people listening should be doing this regularly. Like it should be part of your plan for the year no matter what. Even if it’s not on your radar right now.I think, yeah, it is only going to make your business better.

[00:24:49]  Jackie Thesing 

Yes, absolutely. Because these types like podcast interviews and actually getting, you know, and even local magazine like food magazine type interviews and stuff like it. We all, all of our, all of us creators are just like thirsty to share knowledge. And I think some of us even meet. Like, you’re like, I don’t have anything to share, I don’t have anything to give. 

Like, I just want to. You know, taking everything in, which is so important too. But like you do have something to give and something to share and something that you’ve lear in the years you’ve been doing this and put yourself out there.

[00:25:24]  Megan Porta 

Oh my gosh, that is such a good point right there, what you said. I hear this from so many people throughout the year. I don’t know what I would talk about. I don’t know what to share. I don’t have anything important to say. I don’t have value to add. Oh my gosh, that is so wrong.

[00:25:40]   

Everyone, every single person listening to this has way more value than they think to add to. Not just the food blogging space, but so many other circles. Think of all the different types of food and cooking and business that you can contribute to. There is so much that you have to add, I promise you.

[00:26:01]   

I also, you talked about magazines. Can you talk more about that? Because that’s something I have not gotten into much, but I can see that there would be so much value there too.

[00:26:10]  Jackie Thesing 

Yes, that is something too. I haven’t delved in a lot. I have done a little bit of recipe sharing on one of our local online magazines, Minnesota Parents. And that one was just through me reaching out too. So there’s a lot of different magazines that we’ll do some recipe sharing. You know, there’s like I just had a local Minnesota one that’s a very well read website that is great for backlinks.

[00:26:32]   

And then there’s some that I’ve been in talks with and haven’t moved forward yet. Some like local magazines, you know, just pick it up and Say, oh, what’s this? Like that I found to say, like, oh, are you ever looking for recipe contributors? And all it takes is just to reach out. And they always are like these.

[00:26:49]   

There’s in Minneapolis St. Paul, there’s, you know, food and food and beverage magazines, and they’re always looking for contributors. So that’s just another fun way. And of course, make sure to look for the online magazines too, where they’re looking for content, you know, it’s not necessarily them creating the content. They’re looking for you to share it. So it’s another great avenue.

[00:27:08]  Megan Porta 

Are you in the Minneapolis St. Paul area, Jackie?

[00:27:11]  Jackie Thesing 

I am, yes.

[00:27:13]  Megan Porta 

Oh, well, so am I. We need to get together. Oh, my goodness. I love meeting new Twin Cities bloggers. Amazing.

[00:27:20]  Jackie Thesing 

Yes. Yes.

[00:27:21]  Megan Porta 

That’s awesome. Okay, first of all, is there anything there within media interviews, articles, etc that we haven’t covered? Because I want to go over that before I talk to you about that concept of just putting yourself out there doing scary things.

[00:27:36]  Jackie Thesing 

No, I think we covered it all. I think there’s so many more opportunities that even I’m not aware of. But I guess what I would say there is. Just be on the lookout. Always. Like, if you see a magazine in the grocery store, pick it up and say, like, oh, does it look like, you know, they take recipe contributors?

[00:27:50]   

If you see a website, do the same thing. If you’re watching a local show and they’re having demos on it, go reach out. Same thing with sponsored posts. If you have a brand you love, reach out. So just be on the lookout and like, just kind of tune your ear and your eye to those different types of opportunities, knowing that it’s not all just siloed to, you know, your website and your recipes there.

[00:28:13]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, great advice there. Okay. Talk about putting yourself out there, because that is the underlying theme for absolutely everything you’re talking about. You have to put yourself out there to. What is the saying? Like, you get what you give, right? So if you put yourself out, you’re going to get back. So encourage people with that because I know all of this can be really scary.

[00:28:36]  Jackie Thesing 

Yeah. And imposter syndrome is a real thing. I still struggle with it daily. And just that’s what I’ll go back to your work and the work you’re putting out. Your recipes are valuable. People love them. Your current readers love them, you know, and so don’t take less than you’re worth and just like decide your value with pricing.

[00:28:58]   

That can be so hard if we’re talking about sponsored posts. But it’s what feels right to you. That’s why I think when I’m working with a new brand, you know, I’m not going to say, like, how much did they pay them over there? It’s what do I feel good making? And then you build on that, you know, as you build a relationship.

[00:29:15]   

So, you know, monetary wise is one thing, like, build on what feels good to you, what feels right to you for your time and the. What you’re providing them. And you’ve talked about that in other podcasts too, of, you know, how we can go about that, but just what feels right to you.

[00:29:30]   

And it’s the same thing with media appearances and stuff like that. If you might just be, you know, it might just be a. You’re putting yourself out there so it’s not paid, but, you know, make sure that they’re tagging your website and your social channels and all of that. But the first step is reaching out.

[00:29:50]   

You know, all of these things, media, sponsorships, whatever. Take that first step, reach out and be confident in the product that you’re providing, because it’s great.

[00:29:59]  Megan Porta 

Yes. Oh, that’s such great encouragement. That first step is so hard, especially when it’s like, okay, I have to find someone. I don’t know who I’m looking for. This is scary. I don’t. Oh, okay. So I was on the news here in the Twin Cities twice when my cookbook was released years ago.

[00:30:17]   

And that was one of the scariest things that I’ve ever done, like racing heart, when you see the. You see the red light in the countdown to going live. And I was like, oh, my gosh, I’m gonna die right now. I’m going to pass out and die in front of everyone. It is so scary.

[00:30:35]   

But at the end of the day, it was so rewarding and great to meet people. And they’re so nice, the tv, the news people are just like, they are. They know how to make you feel comfortable. That’s what they do all the time. So it was. It was fine. Like, it all ended up great. But it’s terrifying. It was terrifying for me.

[00:30:57]  Jackie Thesing 

Yes, it is. And I always say that about new opportunities, though, right? Like, they’re going to be scary and that’s because they’re new and. But like, scary and is good in the end. Like, it’s going to be okay. That’s. Any first step is going to feel scary for me. Any first new step feels like, I don’t know what I’m talking about.I’m not ready for this. Like, I’M doing a segment on our local news Fox sign. Good day tomorrow on Ask the Baker. Like, expert. And they’re calling me the Expert Baker. I’m like, no, I’m not. But I do know what I’m talking about. That’s just how you feel. But I do know what I’m talking about, and so do you. You know what you’re doing. Yeah.

[00:31:37]  Megan Porta 

We have to check ourselves sometimes and just remind ourselves that we are experts and we do have a lot of knowledge and value to add to this world. And just I feel like we work alone, so we’re just. Maybe we get in that mindset of, like, do I really know what I’m talking about?

[00:31:55]   

Yes, you do. You know what you’re talking about. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have this amazing business that you have. So daily reminders need to happen for all of us. I think this has been so great. Okay. Is there anything at all we’ve missed, Jackie, in just all of the topics we’ve discussed that you feel like we need to cover before we say goodbye?

[00:32:16]  Jackie Thesing 

I don’t think so. You know, like, we talked about putting yourself out there. Making connections for me is huge, too. Like, don’t necessarily go into things with, like, an end game of, you know, getting something out of it. Like, locally, here we have Zoe Francois, Stephanie Hansen. Like, reach out to them. Go get coffee.

[00:32:34]   

They want to meet you too. And so just make the start by making connections. Just to make connections, too. Like, don’t be scared of that. And that’s scary, too. Like, oh, my gosh, like, I’m gonna go meet with with Stephanie. She’s huge. She’s on TV here. And. But she. They’re so nice. And you could do the same thing with one of the local anchors.Like, they’re all so nice. And, yeah, this. It’s scary, but it’s good. Like, do it. Put yourself out there. Just ask.

[00:33:01]  Megan Porta 

Yeah, I know whenever I get intimidated by people, I have to stop and just say to myself, they’re humans, just like me. It’s just a human. It’s not like I’m talking to a robot or anything weird. It’s like, when you humanize people, it’s like, oh, yeah. They probably want to connect with others, too, so why not?

[00:33:24]   

And if they say no, oh, well, right. Move on to somebody else. Nothing is lost. So thank you so much. This has been so great and so good to connect with you, too.

[00:33:34]  Jackie Thesing 

It’s been so great. I really appreciate being able to talk about it and just put it out there because we’re all feeling it, but won’t necessarily talk about it. Comparison can be the enemy, you know, where, like, I’m not good enough. I’m not, whatever. But like you said, we’re all people. The worst you can hear from all of this that we’ve talked about is no.And that’s okay.

[00:33:53]  Megan Porta 

What’s the worst that can happen? You hear no. Okay, moving on. Right? Yeah. I think that’s like the subtitle of this whole episode. No? Oh, well, I’ll move on. Well, thank you. Do you have either a quote or words of inspiration to leave us with?

[00:34:11]  Jackie Thesing 

We’ve been talking about it forever, but I wrote down what I wanted to say was know your worth. Know that what you produce is valuable and that your work should be compensated or appreciated as we’re talking about whatever avenue we’re talking about because what you do is valuable.

[00:34:29]  Megan Porta 

Oh, I love it. Perfect way to end. We will put together a show notes page for you. Jackie, if you want to head over to eatblogtalk.com/sweetgirltreats you can look at those. Tell everyone where they can find you.

[00:34:43]  Jackie Thesing 

You can find all of my recipes on my website, sweetgirltreatsmn.com awesome.

[00:34:49]  Megan Porta 

Everyone go check out Jackie. And thanks again for being here and thank you for listening food bloggers. I will see you next time.

[00:34:59]

Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Eat Blog Talk. If you enjoyed this episode, I’d be so grateful if you posted it to your social media feed and stories. I will see you next time.