CannaSiteCo. Instagram Live

CannaSiteCo. is a different kind of company in the cannabis industry. They’re a cannabis marketing agency that offers solutions for businesses in the cannabis vertical and provide premium services for some of the top companies in the space. As part of our Women in Cannabis IG live series, We sat down with Caron Cooper and Reagan Hatch from CannaSiteCo. to take a deeper dive into exactly what they do. 

Can you tell us a little about yourselves individually and how CannaSiteCo. came to be? 

Reagan Hatch: I’m a mom to three and I took an 8-year hiatus from working to stay home with my kids and when I went back to work, I didn’t work for very good people. And so a few years later, Caron and I kind of came to the same fork in the road where we were tired of working in that environment and that’s when we decided to start our own company. But, we’re a remote team! I live in Texas and travel to shows. I manage my family and my end of the business without killing myself (or anyone else).

Caron Cooper: I have an agency background and, similarly, kind of got tired of working for other people and wanted to do our own thing. We wanted to work with people we actually liked and would want to be friends with. I’m a mom of two and also wanted flexibility and to create our own hours — enjoy life now instead of working for 50 years and maybe getting a chance to enjoy it later. So here we are, we started in ‘18 so it’ll be three years this summer. 

We have a really cool team of all women, which is exciting, and we’re really excited that you guys are supporting women and doing this women in cannabis series. 

So we met you guys right at the beginning then, didn’t we? 

RH: Yeah, it was maybe our second or third trade show when we met. We set up our exhibit right next to you guys. We got Gary’s email address and phone number and I wouldn’t let him go.

Quickly, can you give a little rundown of the services that CannaSiteCo. provides? 

RH: Our first love is websites. We love to develop websites and then our digital marketing services are SEO, social media marketing, paid ads marketing, email marketing, reputation management and we have a content writing team for websites if our customers need that.

We try to focus on what we’re best at and then introduce our clients to other professionals and strategic partners we have out there so they’re well-served through the cannabis marketing agency. We don’t want to try to make a buck at anyone’s expense. 

If you’ve been on our website, you’ve experienced the quality work that CannaSiteCo. does! I’ll look into multimillion-dollar companies and their website looks like it was designed in 1996 and performs like it was designed in 1996. Why do you think that some cannabis companies and other cannabis-related businesses have neglected using aesthetically pleasing and fully functioning websites with a cannabis marketing agency? 

RH: The first answer would be budget and then for some of the larger ones, I just don’t think they know how much it can affect their overhead or their income, what they make and how they grow. 

CC: Some of it’s generational. Depending on the age and the person in charge of making those decisions. At least up until COVID hit, they probably just didn’t think they needed it. They had other sources of revenue and that was it, but that’s definitely changing. 

That’s a perfect transition into one of our other questions…did you guys feel a shift with the pandemic and people coming around to the importance of SEO and web presence? 

CC: Not immediately, I would say. That very first month was one of the worst months we’ve ever had because I think there was a lot of disbelief. People didn’t believe it at first. And then it became really real and then business picked up. We’ve been really busy as a cannabis marketing agency since. For a lot of people, that was the only way of doing business. 

RH: It’s the only means of doing business in a lot of industries and in a lot of areas. 

CC: Online ordering became huge for dispensaries. Anybody selling a product that could be shipped was a focus.

RH: We’ve done a lot of delivery websites during the pandemic. 

What challenges has CannaSiteCo. faced when recognizing the value of the service you provide? 

CC: I think that trust is a big one. I think so many people have been burned by web developers. Either they don’t deliver, people hire family members, they don’t finish or they take months and months. So there’s skepticism for paying upfront because we don’t do anything without being paid first because of the nature of the business. People are always a little nervous and want to give half now and half later. Proving and showing all the work we have done and all the websites we’ve built helps. But there’s still some skepticism.

RH: It was pretty slow to get here, too. In the beginning, we didn’t have a giant portfolio and people just had to trust us on our word and people didn’t know us from Adam because we did not have a reputation. But now, we’ve built up a really solid reputation based on feedback and customers keep coming to us in referrals so that’s definitely helped, too. 

There’s a shift happening with a lot more females present in the industry and having leadership roles in the industry, but it’s overall still mainly a male-dominated industry. How has being a woman in a woman-ran company in this industry, what obstacles has that created for your team? 

CC: I would say Reagan and I both came from even more male-dominated industries. I was in the automotive industry and she was in water filtration. They are very “bro” industries. So coming to the cannabis industry was a little bit of a welcome change for us. There are definitely more women in this industry and we have found some really strong female networks that are busy and that are networking and doing, so that has helped. And we’re also lucky to have male clients that support what we do — like CVault. You guys have been amazing. Gary’s always offering opportunities and we’re lucky to be supported by people who believe that women deserve a seat at the table. 

RH: I would say that one obstacle is just getting our foot in the door initially. Unless we have an introduction, that’s kind of been hard in a male-dominated company or corporation. But I would also say that it’s provided ample opportunity for us. Just like Caron was talking about the women’s groups that we’ve found and the strategic partners we’ve developed. It seems like being a woman and women-owned has provided us a lot of opportunities to get out there and connect with more women and even get more jobs because of it because people are looking to work with women. And there are so many more women out there in the industry than there were five years ago. It’s just luck and really great timing. 

That is perfect and I definitely see a huge shift especially when it comes to female growers. Especially on social media, I see them coming up and I see them producing some of the most beautiful flowers I’ve seen. I’m excited to see where that goes and feature some of them with this IG live series. I just respect quality and there are some females who are crushing it. 

CC: One of our favorites is Puffin Farm here in Washington. Their buds are beautiful and high-quality and grown naturally and organically. So that’s a woman-owned business and a woman grower. Lady Gemini in California, I believe she grows and is another one we’ve worked with. We have Journey Organics which is hemp in Minnesota. And just being a resident of Washington, there are a lot of women growers that I respect that we haven’t necessarily worked with but that are doing awesome things and it’s exciting. There are a lot of women growers and women businesses in this industry that are really exciting to watch and to be friends with and be a part of. 

Are you guys excited to get back to doing trade shows? 

RH: Yes! I’m so excited. I miss that energy and meeting people and networking and they’re fun.

CC: And it’s a chance to get away from kids. We get to meet up and hang out. It’s like a girl’s trip every time! And to see you guys and other friends we’ve made!  

You do the CannaCons right? 

CC: We do a lot of, if not all. CannaCon is one of our clients and we love supporting them. They’re a great company. It’s been a tough year, everybody’s ready to get back. 

Coming soon: an IG live with Angela from Cannacon for an exciting perspective! 

So, what’s new and exciting for CannaSiteCo.? 

CC: Trade shows and getting back out. 

RH: Just further developing our strategic partnerships with people and looking for other ways to increase our offerings and help our customers through the cannabis marketing agency. And just refining our services mainly as we get busier, we need to make sure that we remember who we are and what we’re doing. 

CC: We’re going to build ourselves a new website, so that’s exciting.

It must be fun to work on something like that for yourself?

CC: When we started, I built our website and did it in like, a day. And then we got busy so we haven’t paid a lot of attention to our own website. We now have Becca who’s full-time with us, she’s our developer and we’ll get her involved to show off more of our skills and what we can do. Our website’s nice, but we can do a lot more now. 

RH: We need more content now that we’ve matured. 

If you could give some advice to people who are interested in getting into the cannabis industry in the ancillary facet like cannabis marketing, especially someone who is brand new, what would you give them? 

CC: We always hear, “what are you good at?” and apply that to this industry. This industry needs accountants and web designers and lawyers and every other type of professional. 

RH: Also, find a mentor. Find somebody who is willing to help you learn what you’re doing and the right practices because we all know there’s a right way and a wrong way to do everything especially in cannabis. I feel like there are a lot of sharks out there looking to snatch up the vulnerable newbies.

CC: When we meet a lot of people at trade shows that are testing the waters especially in a newly legalized state, they’re like, “I think I’m going to grow.” Well, you don’t have to be a grower, there are so many other things you can do, and growing is an art. It’s not exactly easy, I don’t think I could do it. So, find your niche, something that you’re already good at and network. Make friends, there are so many industry Facebook groups — for women, men, growers, everyone — get connected. Join some groups and meet some people. 

RH: You really find a lot of support. 

CC: It’s friendlier and a little more easygoing! 

So, where can people find out more about the services your cannabis marketing agency offers? 

RH: Well, on our website is a great place. But we have social media channels, obviously. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn. But the best thing to do is just shoot me an email and let’s talk on the phone. We do a little bit of everything, but as we mentioned, we’re working on the website so we don’t have as much information or detailed information about our services. So I’m happy to hop on a quick call with anybody anytime. 

CC: We’re not high-pressure salespeople here. Let’s just chat. Reagan loves to talk and have a fun conversation to see what you’re doing and see if we match. No pressure. 

RH: If our cannabis marketing agency can’t help you, I’ll try to send you to somebody that can. We’re not afraid of a little competition. Let’s work together. 

We always like to sign off with this: if you could smoke weed with any three people — alive, dead or fictional — who would they be and why? 

RH: 

• The first one, I would say is Dan Patrick, the Lieutenant Governor of Texas. His uptight ass needs to smoke a joint. Maybe he wouldn’t be such a dick about all of his policies and be a little more open-minded. 
• The next one would be an extraterrestrial, whether it’s E.T. from the movie or not, I think that would be awesome. It’d be fun, I mean E.T. got drunk so maybe we could pull some bong rips together. And then maybe I could try some of the intergalactic flower. 
• And then, it might be a little cliche, since I am from Texas, Willie Nelson. 

CC: 

• Going back to my roots I’d probably choose Snoop. Maybe a little Dr. Dre or Snoop and Martha Stewart together, they’re a trip. 
• Maybe RGB if she’d be down. She’s amazing, that would have been badass. 
• Bob Marley, cliche, but he’s amazing. 

If you want to check out the services that CannaSiteCo. has to offer in the cannabis marketing agency space and beyond, be sure to check out their website.