Don't Ask Google, Ask Fercci & Creator Series
Welcome to our new series Creator’s Creations!
We are sharing highlights from transformation stories and how we are creating FIT Life Creation and the community. In this feature, we are Asking Fercci about her story (instead of asking Google) with Cinthia!
Highlights of Story and Creations:
Being a content creator is NO JOKE. Picking a topic to talk about, creating visual material (photos or graphics), writing about it, curating whatever you create, scheduling when where will post it, it doesn't even end there! But I must say, I love it.
My name is Cinthia, and I'm the owner of Ask Fercci, a space for open discussions where the end goal is finding the truth around controversial topics around health and wellness.
The beginning of Ask Fercci.
I started suffering from acne in my early twenties. Before then, I never experienced issues with my skin, but due to hormonal imbalances (after leaving the pill) and stress, acne found its way to my face.
Since it was not going away after a few months, I started doing research by drowning in beauty blogs and health journals on the internet, desperately seeking answers. I can't even tell you the number of routines and products I tried that didn't help at all despite the great reviews and the excellent comments on the web. With so much fuzz, Who do you believe? Who do you trust?
I decided to visit a dermatologist. That day, I discovered that a considerable chunk of my knowledge was utterly wrong! All the masking, exfoliation, and facials I was doing were useless!
This made me think about how many other things I might have been doing wrong and all the other people going through a similar situation. Myths about wellness and health have been passed through our family, friends, and favorite influencers, and although we usually don't question them since we trust the source, I knew something had to be done about it, so I decided to open my blog.
Your Brand
Marketing 101 - Find a problem and then solve it. I reached out to a few of my friends and asked if they have ever been in my shoes when it came to finding reliable information. To my surprise, ALL of them affirmed!
After that, I knew I had something excellent to work with. Once my problem was identified, I brainstormed a name, a logo, and started working on my website. Nowadays, it's incredibly easy to create your site! I use Wix.com to build and maintain my blog; I still can't believe I designed it myself!
At the same time, I erased all the pictures from my personal Instagram, switched my handle to @AskFercci, and started posting brand-related content daily. At that time, I had 3,000 followers that I've acquired by posting selfies, pictures of nature, and vacation photos.
Sadly for me, once I turned my account into a business account, I was able to see that 68% of those followers were men. This wasn't ideal for my new brand since I was mainly targeting women.
Regardless, I started posting branded content regularly, and it wasn't surprising to see my followers dropping. My male followers weren't interested in the benefits of healthy fats for your skin and how spinach can make you a happier person (totally can! Check out my blog for more info on this) #facts
But that didn't discourage me. I had a clear mission and purpose, so I decided to keep on going and see where the new strategy would take me.
"If you have in place a clear purpose, vision, and mission for your brand, you should never feel discouraged about the numbers of your likes or how many followers you gain in a day!
Give it some time, and you will start seeing what works and what might be improved." Fercci
Biggest Success Factors
Since I started the blog on August 19th, 2019, I know I have a lot of things yet to improve, and a lot to grow, however, if you would ask me what was/is my most significant success factor, I would tell you that is pure testing, observing, and adapting.
I started testing images (pictures of food, pictures of myself, text graphics), captions (what tone would generate more comments? What would make me sound like Fercci?).
Paying attention to what works and what doesn't is crucial if you want to succeed in any form of marketing or advertising. You don't know everything, and that's the beauty of it! You need to put your ego aside and see what others enjoy the most and what they dislike.
Your Challenges & How You Turned Pain into Purpose
One of the challenges I faced was to speak in front of a camera, especially in public, like at the gym, where I literally would bring a portable phone tripod and record my routine! People will always be curious about what you are doing, even more, when you're doing something unusual.
The good news is that, at least for me, this fear faded away quickly (after a month or so) because I knew I had to do it for my brand. Now exposing yourself and your personal life is not always necessary when you're creating your brand!
But in my case, Fercci is a personality. Fercci is the brand; thus, I had to step it up and leave my fear and shame behind.
Another challenge I had was to compare myself to others. If you take a look at my profile, it is far from the typical sleek, high-quality images and single-color palette as many other accounts out there. This made me doubt a lot when you're creating a brand, and you must stay true to your voice.
I'm a very colorful and energetic person, so I wanted to create a space where not only my audience will get verified facts about health and wellness but also a clear picture of who I am. There is an audience for every style, you just need to have a sharp definition of who your brand is.
Actionable Tips All Along the Way
What tips do I have for you?
Some tips for those starting up:
Tip 1: Start now! There are 7 days in the week, SOMEDAY is not one of them… For a long time, I was postponing my blog because I didn't know if I was able to create nice content, or if I would have the time. When I started it, I had to figure things out, but it was fun to see that it was totally doable!
Tip 2: Don't be so hard on yourself! You are your biggest critic. Many times I would stop myself from being transparent and authentic because I was afraid of what others would say. I critiqued my own creativity harshly. When I fall into negative loops, I would ask myself: what's the worst that can happen? Don't be so hard on yourself, creating a business is hard, and you will make mistakes, but that's okay, learning from is critical for improvement, your most significant failure would be not trying.
Tip 3: Harvest real connections. Life is always about enjoying the path, creation is the same way. I made virtual friends all over the world, people who helped me by giving feedback, supporting posts, and by mutual collaborations. Remember, this is a SOCIAL platform.
Favorite Adventure
My favorite adventure so far… hum… Photoshoots! Oh, gosh, how hard they were! I was super nervous on the first two, didn't really know how to model or how to make the shot look good.
Also, since I don't have the budget to hire a photographer for hours, I needed to make sure I made enough content for a month in 2 hours with only 3 outfits. Also, outdoor shoots are usually prettier and more spontaneous, but this meant having Fercci changing wardrobes behind a bush in Central Park...yup, totally adventurous.
Magic happens when you have a good team, Jill Moffa is a fantastic photographer to work in New York City. She helped me improve my poses quickly, and made each session a super fun experience, plus her editions make me look like a pro!
Final Tips for those creating what they love
Enjoy the process, learn from testing and observation, but most importantly, be yourself! If you try to be like your competition, you will probably not get as far as if you show the world authenticity. This is what a lot of huge influencers are lacking, why would you want to fall into that?
Be patient. Grow doesn't happen in one night. Becoming relevant in such a vast platform is tough, but not impossible. Remember that there are thousands of other people who are also trying to succeed, it takes perseverance to get where you want to be.
If you like what you do, if you love what you create, you are doing something right. I feel sometimes I add extra stressors into my already busy life (full-time college student, full-time work, full-time blogger…), and those tense times make me question if I'm doing the right thing, or if I'm wasting my time. But there's nothing I enjoy more than building my own brand. Despite the late nights, I spend writing, creating, curating, editing, planning, managing my community, etc.
Never stop positively challenging yourself. Growth and success don't fall from the sky, it takes work. This is your own business, no one will push you around telling you what you should do to improve, don't get stuck in your comfort zone.
If you have any questions or comments about my story, please feel free to reach me! I love connecting with new people :) And remember, be well, be happy, and stop googling, Ask Fercci.
FIT Life Creation
Creation Series: Cinthia, Creator of Ask Fercci
YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs62RJl-R0GUvu9OyT_ZUJA
Top 3 Posts
https://www.askfercci.com/post/do-fat-burning-and-appetite-suppressant-pills-work
https://www.askfercci.com/post/juice-cleansing-diets
https://www.askfercci.com/post/dry-skin-winter
Press Feature
https://afluencer.com/5-uplifting-lifestyle-influencers-for-2020/
Create a Life and Business You Love & Creator Series
Transformation is required to create a life and business you love in each and every area. As the Creator and CEO of FIT Life Creation, I am not immune. I am co-creating and co-writing my story with our Creator each and every moment.
Don't compare your Chapter 1 to Chapter 7, or anyone's Chapter 22 or novel. Choose to humble yourself and be an eternal student. Refine your character to believe in faith for the impossible and ground yourself to be content when results are delayed for your growth.
What did you get from Cinthia's? Creator Series article?
What action will you take next?
What will you take action on in the next 90 days?
If you love this post, you'll love How Transformation is Required to Create a Life & Business You Love.
Create in Our Community
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Creator Series Contributions
If you would love to be considered for our Creation Series,
E-mail us a draft of your submission with the following:
1 Your Story
2 Your Brand
3 Biggest Success Factors
4 Your Challenges & How You Turned Pain into Purpose
5 Actionable Tips All Along the Way
6 What You Think is Most Important with ?s Above
7 Favorite Adventure
8 Final Tips for those creating what they love
Essentially follow the template and format you see
Include
1 Your Media Kit
2 Confirm You Will Back Link on Your Blog/Media Page
3 5+ High Quality Images
4 3+ Back Links to Your Platform
5 1+ External Press You Have
We ask for a voice over so we may feature in our podcast.
We invite you to explore a live podcast feature & influencer features as well.
Note that in your submission.
We reserve the right to feature you in our masterminds & online courses with the article.
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