Author: tehamagroup

By Karsten Kaufmann, Videographer

The road to hell was paved with good intentions.

You start the morning off with a great breakfast followed by a protein-packed kale, quinoa and other-Beyonce-celebrated-food-item salad for lunch. You’re unstoppable, you health god/goddess, you.

But once 3 p.m. looms around, there is this annoying and largely mental need to satisfy this neither-here-nor-there hunger. This is where you find yourself in defeat. To quiet the angry growling in your stomach, you mindlessly trudge over to Butte Station and grab a Snickers bar in shame.

Maybe the late night Serrano’s runs are starting to show or you’re just trying to make some healthier choices (when possible,) but here are some healthy snack options to help pick you up from those mid-day slumps.

Popcorn

 

 

 

 

 

 

A study championed by Penn State University suggests that high density foods leave you more satisfied than those that don’t fill you up as much. This natural whole grain snack can help keep the mindless munching at bay as great alternative to chips. Steer clear from the movie theatre butter by flavouring it on your own. Add a sprinkling of salt, lashings of Sriracha for those who crave spice or mix-in some dark chocolate chips when you need something sweet.

Fruit and Nut Butter Dip

Most of us are familiar with the classic snack combo. But with one tablespoon of peanut butter being equivalent to about 95 calories, the healthy fats from the nuts can still pack on the calories. (And who really stops at just one tablespoon?) Balance it out by stirring in some Greek yogurt to the peanut butter, adding some honey or stevia to taste and adding a dash of cinnamon if you’re feeling fancy.

Dark Chocolate

Instead of reliving the Snicker bar situation which contains hidden fats and sugars, make a smarter choice and reach for the dark chocolate instead. There’s a reason why women flock to chocolate during that time of the month. Dark chocolate contains antioxidants that can help regulate levels of the stress hormone cortisol, and stimulate the production of endorphins to boost your mood. Avoid restricting things that you enjoy as this, and in time, will only end up in unhealthy binging. Everything—yes, even chocolate—can be enjoyed in moderation.

Nutrition Bars

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ah, the college student staple. I like to have a couple of options at hand to grab when I’m running out the door. The key to picking a great bar is to pick ones with minimalistic ingredients. If you can’t pronounce them, you problem don’t want them in your food. These ones from Nature’s Bakery are great alternatives to Fig Newtons and are completely nut and dairy free. Even at 220 calories a pack, getting calories from a natural source is always best.

Carrots and Hummus

Hummus is traditionally made with chickpeas and tahini (sesame oil). Legumes are filled with fibre which will keep you full longer while the monosaturated fats in tahini are fats that are actually good for you. These individual hummus cups will help you stick to your portions. Carrots pack a nutrient punch (and crunch,) which will help hold you over until dinner time.

Trail Mix

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a great pre-workout when you want a snack right before you hit the gym. Ditch the expensive store bought varieties—those often contain add-ins like dried fruit that are ladened in sugar—by making your own. Start with a nut: Heart-healthy almonds are a great choice. Then followed by the mix-ins; dates have an almost caramel-y sweetness to them and are full of glucose to give you that burst of energy without the sugar crash.

By Daena Marissa Iqbal Hakim, Account Executive

By Carolina Morales, Account Executive

By Assistant Account Executive, Baret Yahn.

I’ll admit, Pinterest is addictive. I will not admit to how many hours I spend consuming an array of snacks, and pondering “to pin or not to pin? I guess I’ll just heart it instead.” I’ve always recognized the potential this social platform has to be beneficial in Public Relations. There are endless ways to use Pinterest to better your brand and client relationships. Here are a few tricks of the trade from yours truly.

Pin Vocab – Pinterest is a social network that allows users to visually share, curate, and discover new interests by posting, also known as ‘pinning,’ images or videos to their own or others’ pin-boards (i.e. a collection of ‘pins,’ usually with a common theme). Users can either upload images from their computer or pin things they find on the web using the Pinterest bookmarklet, ‘Pin It’ button, or copying a URL. One can browse through the items other users have pinned and ‘like or heart,’ ‘repin’ or ‘comment’ on them. You can invite members to pin for your boards, as to add more content-user interaction. There are about 70 million registered users and about 54 million new pins added to the site everyday. It’s only growing.

Key Uses with Pinterest to improve your company’s PR image:

Pin blog articles or other Web pages – The latest feature on Pinterest is their pinned article layout. Instead of just an image being pinned that links to the story, now Pinterest articles have a headline, author, story description and photo that all show on one pin.

Image from Pinterest Blog

Pin with colleagues around the world – The great thing about Pinterest is that you can tag people in pins they might find interesting. You can share ideas for an event or new product quickly with one @ sign. Not only can you share a pin, but commenting back and forth on it is also a feature. There is a comment box under each image for easy communication. Sharing and interacting with others, even if they are far away, can enhance relationships in a creative way.

Keep posts visual – Always pin images for your client or business that are visually enticing. Pinterest is a pictorial site, which means having beautiful pictures; whether they be travel photos, funny pictures from a craft gone wrong, or professional photos of your product — and combining them with a well-written blog article, product, or how-to, is guaranteed to be very successful. Pinterest users love pinning beautiful pictures, it is the basis of the site. Users will repin something if they see value in the image without even seeing what the click through links to.

Chart from KissMetrics.com

Don’t use obvious promotion – Using Pinterest to sell products in a non-blatant way is a great way to get your business or client’s name out there. If you add Pinterest content, your followers will see striking visuals for a great product. They will then use the click through link if they want to buy the product. There is also an option for businesses to promote their pins, which means paying for people to see the pins they post. I think consumers like having the choice of whether or not they are interested enough in an item to go to the website.

Show what’s going on in the industry – Creating boards for public relations, marketing, business or whatever it may be; lends a great opportunity to share information about your industry to other people on the job, or those outside a particular career realm. This is also a good place to proudly display infographics!

Put a pin on all of your social media channels – Be sure to have a “Pin It” clickable link on all sites. This makes it incredibly easy for a consumer to directly take a product from a business’ website and pin it on their own board. When something gets pinned, that means more eyeballs through the site, which is always a good thing when it comes to sales.

Contests – Many companies use Pinterest to garner more interest in a particular brand. For example, Victoria’s Secret sends out emails saying that if people make a “Pink Board via Pinterest” (Pink is one of their clothing brands) their board could be chosen for a Pink vacation, or another select prize. Generally, contest guidelines require users to pin a certain amount of images from the business’ direct site, creating more content circulation for them.

There are many more tools out there to enhance your Pinterest experience. Using these tips, you can create fun consumer relatable content that is sure to drive more traffic to your business or a client’s. Pinterest is the secret to success in interacting with target audiences and getting information to the public in an unobtrusive manner. Get pinning!

By Alyssa Worley, Account Executive

Gone are the days of a simple CD. The music industry has been pushed to evolve along with technology, creating a plethora of options for listening experiences. I’ve had experience with multiple music outlets and here’s what I’ve learned: amongst the competition, each has its perks and drawbacks.

Spotify

What’s Good:

Spotify has mastered the social sharing of music in the digital space. It is very easy for me to browse through the artists that my friends have been listening to. I can even check out my favorite artist’s favorite artist. There are even public playlists for practically every event. Attending a roller skating party? There’s a playlist for that. Having a “hipster barbecue”? There’s a playlist for that too—a very good one at that.

Their free version is convenient and has basically all the perks their premium service has, as long as you’re connected to Wi-Fi and don’t mind an advertisement every 15 minutes or so. As a college student, Spotify’s commitment to providing an affordable premium price for students by providing a 50-percent discount is incredibly appealing. I happily splurge on the student discount premium fee every month and am a huge fan of their mobile app, which is very convenient for car rides and workouts.

 

 

What’s Bad:

There’s not much bad to say about the user experience with Spotify. The only complaint I have is about their computer app, which occasionally flakes for no apparent reason and won’t start working until I uninstall and reinstall it multiple times.

While the user experience is convenient and enjoyable, they’ve had some very public disputes about their method of paying artists. Because of this, you may not be able to find your favorite artist on the platform, i.e. Taylor Swift.

 

Apple Music

What’s Good:

Apple Music was released in June of this year and rivals the likes of Spotify. It has a beautiful interface that is completely compatible with Apple devices and seamlessly incorporates user’s existing iTunes files. Apple’s successful business relationships with iTunes and artists is evident in Apple Music as well. Users can find mostly every artist’s music available to stream on the service.

Apple Music understands the listening experience. Its suggested playlists have the perfect mixture between familiar tracks, pulling from popular, well-known albums and lesser known artists alike. Users can sample the service on a three-month free trial. After that, the service costs $9.99/month or $14.99/month for the family plan, which allows up to six separate users.

What’s Bad:

Apple Music’s first faux-pas, especially when compared directly to Spotify, is the lack of a free version beyond the three-month trial, as well as offering no student discount. While Apple is planning to offer the service on multiple platforms, including Android, it is currently only available on a computer and on iOS.

 

Pandora

What’s Good:

I find Pandora’s stations to be impressive, as they always satisfy the mood I’m going for while listening. They’ve introduced me to some great new music. Their paid version is just $4.99/month and removes advertisements. Their free version is very usable, with the only downside being their advertisements, which aren’t too disruptive.

What’s Bad:

While the advertisements aren’t intrusive, they are repetitive. Pandora’s radio format denies users the option of choice. Users can pick a song or artist to build a station around, but they can’t pick a specific song they may have had stuck in their head all day and are dying to hear.

 

 

 

Soundcloud

What’s Good:

For fans of EDM, Soundcloud is definitely the best way to explore new music of the genre. Since it allows users to directly upload their music, there are unique, high quality, original and remixed songs available on Soundcloud that may not be available elsewhere, making it the Mecca of electronica. They recently introduced advertisements to the service, but they are limited and far from intrusive for the listener.

What’s Bad:

Soundcloud’s interface is not as user friendly as Spotify or Apple Music. They don’t have a computer app, and while they have a mobile app, it is undependable and often has bugs that cause it to shut down. Soundcloud doesn’t offer suggestions, a feature that has grown to be an ever popular resource through other streaming sources.

 

 

Youtube

What’s Good:

I’m a huge fan of watching music videos. Youtube, being the video streaming site it is, serves as a wonderful platform for artists to share their visual vision of their music in a way that no other site can support. Youtube also has an amazing search algorithm. I never struggle to find obscure songs, which can be an issue with some other sites.

What’s Bad:

Although I know a lot of people use Youtube as their main source of music, it is designed to support videos, not music. This especially becomes an issue when the listener has to hear advertisements between every 3-minute song.

Youtube also lends its contents to the risk of online piracy. Sites like youtubetoMp3.com make it easy for any slightly computer savvy listener to illegally pull the music from the video and save it as a MP3 file on their own computer.

 

Classic Radio

What’s Good:

I spent a semester interning at a local radio station and was surprised by the community’s involvement with the station. Local radio does something for listeners that big streaming companies can’t. They can provide the global hits with a personal touch of community, whether it be snippets of local news, involvement in community events or contests for an upcoming concert in town. Like Pandora, radio is a way to listen to music that you don’t know, making it a great source to discover new music.

What’s Bad:

Advertisements. Traditional radio is by far the worst offender when it comes to reoccurring and disruptive advertisements. Not only are they frequent, but they are often corny and annoying. Also, stations tend to over-play songs, making a song that you once treasured a mainstream travesty. (Uptown Funk, anyone?)

 

By Allie Hahn, Account Executive