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