Today we’d like to introduce you to Raquel Thoesen.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started my tea blog, Steeped Dreams, in January 2021. I had been feeling an itch to do some sort of passion project for a while, and the pandemic was the perfect excuse to really hunker down and start.
My background is in content and search engine optimization (SEO), so a blog was really a no-brainer for me as a creative outlet that could also double as a professional portfolio of my skills. I’ve worked in SEO for almost 5 years, and once you’re in digital marketing, you learn a ton about all the different areas of it because it’s all so connected. For example, SEO has opened the door for me to simultaneously learn basic web development, paid ads, social media, and email marketing. All of these perfectly create a recipe to start any modern small business. So that answers the blog side of things.
And why tea? I’ve never been obsessed with tea, per say, but as someone who has never liked coffee, tea has always been my go-to beverage at cafes. Tea is also the second most consumed beverage globally, so it’s a consistent theme I’ve always enjoyed throughout my travels around the world. There’s just so much history, culture, and variety behind it, making tea an incredibly diverse topic to write about on a blog! Since starting my blog, I’ve learned so much more about tea through research and connecting with tea companies. There’s really no shortage of information to geek out about.
Already, Steeped Dreams has about 1,500 monthly visitors (and counting) and I’ve had incredible opportunities to get involved in the tea community. For example, I got invited to the World Tea Expo in Las Vegas in June and have connected with several tea companies around the world to learn about their business and share their amazing products with my readers. My overall mission is to connect tea drinkers with family-owned small tea businesses and I’m also starting to feature local Phoenix-based tea rooms and tea companies.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It’s been less than a year since I’ve started Steeped Dreams and I’ve been fortunate so far to only see growth. Having any sort of side gig or project often means you have to sacrifice other parts of your life, so when things get busy, I really feel the crunch. Luckily, I love every minute of blogging so it’s a sacrifice I gladly make.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Blogging combines several different creative areas that I take pride in like photography, quality writing, and strategy. Nowadays the traditional “blog” isn’t as popular anymore as content and audiences have shifted more towards social media. However, that doesn’t mean blogging is dead, it’s just evolved to suit different needs. That’s where SEO comes in and is something that sets Steeped Dreams apart from many other tea blog competitors I’ve come across. I focus on creating content around topics that people are actively searching for and care about.
Many tea blogs are either so hyper-personalized that they limit their audiences or they are so general and only exist to have a ton of ads and affiliate links. I’m trying to position my blog somewhere in the middle where you still have more relatable topics for a more beginner tea-drinking audience while maintaining personality and an approachable tone. In other words, my goal is to have readers know there’s a person behind the writing, without making the writing about me.
Contact Info:
- Email: raquel@steepeddreams.com
- Website: https://steepeddreams.com
