Content Creator and Queen Sofia Aguilar

Content creator dubbed the Content Queen, Sofia Aguilar, shares her expertise on the subject in the newest episode of An Entrepreneur’s Vibes Podcast! Juggling full-time content creation and heading her own agency as a social media strategist can be time-consuming and hectic but Sofia does it well and with ease.

Learn what it takes to be a successful social media content creator and entrepreneur from the Content Queen herself and read more about her episode.

The Makings Of Content Creation Royalty

Sofia didn’t always start out as a successful content creator. In fact, one of her first passions was dance. She had a business as an instructor called, ‘Confidence In Movement” where she would be hired for dance lessons at events and be a choreographer. Her first stints with social media came during the building of her online portfolio for her dance business. But when the pandemic hit and she had to close out her dance studio, that’s when things started to pivot for her business-wise.

Sofia then ventured towards the digital marketing space. She already had followers that saw her journey with building a successful dance company and personal brand and that experience trickled over her new venture in the marketing and social media space. That birthed her marketing consultant business after she realized that she could bring her experience with marketing a business. She would later work with service providers, product-based businesses, and agencies.

While dance is still one of Sofia’s major passions, she now practices mostly for fun and not for profit. When asked about where the name “content queen” came from, Sofia says the name wasn’t exactly self-titled. When she started her social media consulting business, people came to her for advice on quality and content creation, and they started calling her the “Amazon Prime of content creation because of her swiftness. The name was something her clients gave her and that she later adopted for her own branding. Her unique value proposition as an entrepreneur was being able to execute her client’s vision when it comes to their social media and branding. With regards to the “Content Queen” name, Sofia says, “I cringed at the beginning, like Queen, Amazon Prime, like you guys are giving me all these labels and titles. But you know, I do live up to the name.”

To Sofia, the content creation process is one of innovation. Be it done through her phone or other gadgets, she promises the highest quality to her clients with a fast return too because he understands how quickly the social media game is prone to change.

What Is Content Creation

Content creation has become a foundational digital marketing tool and effort since people have been able to capitalize on social media. The content creation process has become more intentional and it can even be quite a tedious process. According to Brafton, content creation delves into research and strategizing ideas to create high-value content that can be used to promote certain audiences. Content also comes in a variety of formats like web pages, blogs, infographics, videos, and posts.

Resident Content Queen, Sofia Aguilar, shares on the podcast “I eat, live, and breathe content creation.” For her consultancy business, she actually shares content creation programs for her clients. She shares how to structure and create a “content plan” or a “shot list” to maximize the content that they can make. Part of her program also highlights the importance of authenticity throughout this process. Sofia says, “I think when you’re true to yourself and when you know who you are, being authentic isn’t like a facade that you play. And when it comes to being implemented in your strategy, it’s who you are.”

Despite her lending a helping hand to her clients and showing them her process, an imperative part of her consultancy is letting her clients’ branding and personality show through the content they create so that it reaches its maximum potential and their target audience is more likely to resonate with what they’ve created.

How To Become A Content Creator

To succeed in such a competitively creative industry, you’ve got to understand what is a content creator. A Sprout Social blog called content creators essentially entertainers and produces educational or captivating content that is distributed on digital social media platforms.

Content forms have been ever-changing. Online consumers can either prefer long-form videos usually found on YouTube or livestreams or shorter-form videos on TikTok. There is also audio content in the form of podcasts, and written works in the form of blogs, stories, ad copies, and images. Jayde Powell who was interviewed on the Sprout Social blog said, “A lot of people in marketing and advertising use ‘content creator’ and ‘influencer’ interchangeably. The two aren’t mutually exclusive but when it comes down to defining the difference, it’s a matter of intention and skillset.”

As a content strategist, Sofia Aguilar says to her clients, “You need a content creator? It’s me.” She has successfully positioned herself as an authority figure in the industry. As advice to aspiring content creators out there, Sofia has some important words to share. “Content creation becomes hard once you’re not aligned with the content that you’re creating or the business that you’re creating it for.” At the end of the day, content is art you are creating not just for marketing purposes. Art and content are supposed to evoke emotion in its consumers, a reason why it’s been used as a tool for marketing purposes. Sofia says for people who are thinking about being a full-time content creator, she would tell them to ask themselves, “What do you enjoy doing the most? What lights you up? Because when we feel good, we produce good work.”

The Content Queen’s Content Creation Strategy

Choose A Niche and Identify Your Audience

Choosing a niche or area of interest that you’re both passionate and knowledgeable about will increase the likelihood of building an audience that shares those same passions. Sofia says, “When I think of niching down, I think of getting clear with the people you love to work with and the people that you don’t.”
Create High-Quality Content Consistently

A lot of content creators’ success comes from the fact that they’re consistent. Because this is work and for it to bear fruit, you have to keep a consistent schedule and produce high-quality content. And quality doesn’t always mean using the best equipment. In fact, Sofia says, “Equipment will get you far, but you can buy all of the equipment and still have poor quality content and strategy because you didn’t focus on the workflow.”
Develop A Personal Brand

Creating a recognizable online persona is what will set you apart in this industry because content creation is becoming increasingly competitive. One thing Sofia works with for her clients is pulling up their statistics for their marketing, content, and personal branding. You need to be able to see your content and immediately relate it to the creator. Sofia says, “When I say a brand, I made sure that I had somewhere that people could contact me, whether it was a small little website [or] an email.”
Engage With Your Audience

The uniqueness of content creators that kind of separates them from just regular artists is that they engage almost in real-time with their audience. If you want to really create a community that’s centered around the content you create, make sure you stay in touch with your audience. Respond to their comments, messages, and questions so you can foster audience loyalty.
Monetize Your Content and Collaborate

Since content creation has quickly become a profitable business, make sure you are leveraging the possible opportunities that come your way. Your high-quality content can quickly become sponsored posts, and you can start affiliate marketing, sell merchandise, or offer paid courses when you build an engaged and loyal community.

Listen To The Full Episode Of An Entrepreneur’s Vibes Podcast featuring Sofia Aguilar

Learn more about Sofia Aguilar’s journey and get her tips and tricks to becoming a successful content creator!

Check out the other episodes of An Entrepreneur’s Vibes where you can get the best value and insights from entrepreneurs themselves! And remember for all your technical writing needs, there’s only one way to go which is with The Write Direction!

An Entrepreneur’s Vibes_EP 9 (Sofia Aguilar)

Sofia Aguilar [00:00:00] I think the new thing is where we find a lot of fear, but fear is an indication that this might be the greatest thing we have ever tap into. So as much as fear can be scary, lean into it.

Patricia [00:00:25] Welcome back to An Entrepreneur Vibes, the podcast that gives insight into the minds of visionary entrepreneurs and business leaders, brought to you by The Write Direction, a leading professional and technical writing company based in North America. Each episode we explore stories and experiences of those who dare to dream, took the leap, and built their own empires. So if you’re just starting out your entrepreneurial journey or you’re already a seasoned business pro, you’ll find inspiration, knowledge and good vibes right here. Our guest today is a shining example of confidence and creativity in the digital age. From overcoming the initial uncertainties of launching her business to becoming a sought after social media strategist. Known for being The Content Queen, she offers transformative programs that empower entrepreneurs to find their authentic voice and create impactful content. Today, we’ll dive into her inspiring journey and discover the secrets behind her innovative approach to social media and content creation. Welcome to the podcast, Sofia Aguilar!

Sofia Aguilar [00:01:23] Thank you! I’m so excited to be here. Thanks for that amazing introduction.

Patricia [00:01:28] Of course. How are you doing today?

Sofia Aguilar [00:01:31] I’m doing well. I’m doing well. I mean, life as an entrepreneur is an everyday, you know, roller coaster, but I’m doing well. Thank you.

Patricia [00:01:40] Amazing! And I know it can be very time consuming, so we really appreciate you taking the time here. I wanted to ask you, how long have you been on social media?

Sofia Aguilar [00:01:48] So I have been on social media for ten years. I would say maybe more, but I can’t really remember that far. But I would say ten years now, yeah.

Patricia [00:01:58] I would say probably when social media really started to like boom, you know, we were all there initially, but it hasn’t been as successful for most people, unlike yourself. So please tell us what inspired you to create a social media content creation and strategy as a career?

Sofia Aguilar [00:02:15] Yeah. So I mean, that’s a great question, but it wasn’t always my like, this wasn’t the plan, right? I’ll take it back a little bit to my first ever business, which was Confidence in Movement. So I was a dance instructor and I had my own dance company, and the best way for me to get the word out was social media. Before that, I was hired to, like, teach dance lessons at local restaurants and events and choreograph a variety of events and be a backup dancer. So I just started to build my online portfolio on social media as a dancer, as a choreographer, and as an artist, essentially. And when the pandemic hit, I had a whole studio. I had so much built out. And then, you know, we kind of had to shut that down. So I was pivoting into the digital marketing space. And people knew and they were familiar with the fact that I had built already a very successful dance company and a personal brand. And so they followed along the journey until I finally stumbled across selling other people’s products, you know, marketing and all that stuff. And that’s kind of where my name came out, as, you know, leading in the marketing and social media space for selling and, you know, literally being an influencer for tons of products. And I just thought like, okay, I can do this for other people. On a greater level, I can do this for service providers, product based businesses, agencies. So that was the birth of social media agency marketing consultant style, because I had done it for myself. Plus I am in a family of entrepreneurs, so I was kind of beta testing it with my family and close friends until I realized like, “Wow, this is something that actually people are struggling with.” Right? We’re in the pandemic. Everybody wants to, you know, continue to scale their business, but now we’ve added on the extra pressure of social media. So, that’s kind of where I came in and that’s where we have been here for years now and counting.

Patricia [00:04:09] That’s really fascinating. And are you still practicing dance? That’s still something that you’re able to do?

Sofia Aguilar [00:04:14] I love it. I don’t know, like I haven’t, you know, opened the door back again. I do have a lot of people that watch my social media. Sometimes I’ll do it for fun. It’s something that brought me joy, right? I also studied social work and I realized like, there is a difference between your hobby and like the passion and the career. And for me, I just couldn’t make the two make sense for me. I couldn’t. I like, wanted to dance, but it was like, now it’s my career. So I was having that friction with it. So if I do start teaching again, everyone will know because I’ll post it on social media. But I still dance here and there. My mom and I, that’s how we connect. We go to dance classes together. So it’s still very much in my life, just not as a career right now.

Patricia [00:04:57] That’s really sweet with you and your mom. And that’s kind of crazy because, you know, a lot of people would say that find something you love and then make money out of it, right? But I guess that’s not the case for everyone. And, you know, during 2020, I think that’s when a lot of people really started on social media because there was nothing much to do. And to create a career out of it is really amazing. How did you come up with the name The Content Queen?

Sofia Aguilar [00:05:20] So I didn’t come up with the name. I actually have to say that I did not call myself The Content Queen. I actually was like, “Who? Why?” And even through your question, I think of the very first time I started creating content and people kept asking me like, “How do you get this high quality? How do you turn the content around so fast?” Was like the they started calling me the Amazon prime of content creation. So I was just delivering content as I was in general. But that’s just the name that my clients gave me and I adopted on my page because they saw me as somebody who could essentially take their vision in their head and something that they couldn’t execute themselves. And I was able to do that for them, for their social media, for their business. So they crowned me with that name. I cringed at the beginning, like Queen, Amazon Prime, like you guys are giving me all these labels and titles. But you know, I do live up to the name. I love content creation every single time I find a new way to make it innovative. Right? I was using my phone and then here and there. I got some more gadgets. So it’s always just delivering the highest amount of quality to my clients in a fast return as well, because we know that social media is always changing.

Patricia [00:06:32] That’s so true. And was there a turning point that made you realize that you wanted to help others with their own social media presences?

Sofia Aguilar [00:06:39] You know, it was this time where I hired a business coach, actually, because I was just in a place like I had quit my bartending job. I was just like so unsure of what to do. I knew that I had a passion for marketing and the online space and so on. And so I connected with this business coach. She was like, “I just wish somebody would do all my content for me and I didn’t have to think about it.” And we were kind of in dialog and I was like, “Okay, so what would that look like? Because I love social media.” So as I heard more people say, “I just struggle creating content. I don’t like coming up with the ideas. It takes me so long.” I started thinking, wow, this is something, like, it was the light bulb went in my head like, this is something that I do as like second nature. Like, it’s almost like drinking water for me, and for other people, it’s not like that. So, that was my “Aha” moment and saying the turning point. While my business coach was coaching me, I was actually fulfilling her content strategy and her content ideas for Instagram, so it just worked in synergy, and that’s how my service offering came to life.

Patricia [00:07:44] [00:07:44]You know, I totally understand that people don’t really have that like, good grasp about how to create content and most especially how to create relevant content that people want to see. Where do you think this comes from? When you say that, it’s like so easy for you to come up with these like, ideas. Where do you think that stems from? [16.3s]

Sofia Aguilar [00:08:02] [00:08:02]Okay. So I don’t have a good memory. So or, you know, I do struggle with memory. I tend to have short term memory, and this has been like for as long as I can remember, which is not for a long time. No pun intended. And so, when I was younger, even just my whole life, I’ve been documenting. I love taking videos of everything. I, like, my family in Spanish, they called me “reporterita,” which is like a reporter, and they said that I would always come home and show them things and tell them things about what was happening, what was going on. And I just loved to storytell, and that was my way of connecting with things even after the fact that they happened. Because again, it was such a short lived moment for me that being able to go back to my camera roll, capturing the moments, creating a vision. And then I remember one time in Christmas, my gift to my family, there was a time where, you know, we were just new in Canada, like we couldn’t really afford much Christmas gifts, all the things, and I created a slideshow for a family of just pictures. And everybody was so, like amazed, like, “Where did you get all these photos? How did you come up with these videos?” And it was my token of appreciation for my family, the memories that we have lived. And so, I mean, that’s more on like a personal level, right? But I think into business, I saw that what I did with Confidence in Movement, what I did with digital marketing, what I did with other people’s products, like I would get gifted like smoothies, and shakes, and shirts, and pants. I was able to bring something that like, I loved and could. Essentially, we’re walking billboards. We’re always marketing something. I was able to just create a story out of it and really make it authentic to who I was. Like, I wasn’t just like a poster boy for, you know, an active wear company. I was actually like infused in the brand. Like, I would make it, and I would adopt it as if it was my very own brand. So, I think that’s what makes me me, is that I’m very authentic and all that I shared. And for all that I’ve known, the talent and the gift comes from me loving genuinely. Like, I have a very big heart. So loving everything that I’m given. Like if I’m, you know, have to promote a lip gloss, then, you know, this becomes like, it’s my own business. So I just – I take pride in that. But yeah, for as long as I – all of that I could remember is that I was always capturing, always storytelling and just making people’s businesses as if they were my own and talking about it and just sharing it authentically with my own experience. And now I can do that with any business. They can tell me their storyline, they can tell me what they do or who they are and who they want to help, and I can just bring their vision to life, because in one shape or form, I’ve experienced that already, or I can do that market research. [161.8s]

Patricia [00:10:45] [00:10:45]Well, I can really tell that you’re such a very passionate person, and I feel that’s what makes everything you do so successful, whether it’s your artistry in dance or whether now being a social media strategist. But where do you get, you think, the motivation? And when you were starting your journey to entrepreneurship, what did that look like, and what kept you motivated to create, like, a real business out of social media? [22.3s]

Sofia Aguilar [00:11:08] [00:11:08]So motivation is something that goes up and down for me. You know, there are days and there are weeks and currently a very open and transparent about it. You know, mentally sometimes we just don’t feel like it and we feel like we’ve really reached the end of the road when it comes to passion and inspiration. And so, I actually became Christian. And like, most of my business journey, has been very much leaning on my faith. And my biggest prayer and my biggest desire is that people are able to discover their passion. Yes, make money, find their community and do what they love, but also include God in the center of it if they are faith-based, right? And I think that’s become my newfound desire, is that people don’t just see their business as a money transaction, but they see it as a transformative experience for anybody, right? Like we look at just even the power of through social media, how that could change people’s lives. That’s been what motivates me. It’s like if because we all have, you know, this, whatever business or idea or whatever it is for you, or maybe you don’t have a business yet, but you have this desire and a story inside of you that if you shared it, you could change somebody’s life. So that’s sort of becoming my motivation. I would look at my clients and I’m like, You could literally change someone’s life and I want to be like the vehicle and the conduit to do that for you. Like, somebody actually called me like a business midwife, and I was like, I had to Google like, “What’s a midwife?” And then, you know, the concept became so interesting for me because I love birthing these desires into my clients and so on those hard days and on those days where I’m like, I have no motivation, I don’t have inspiration. I think about the people that we’re doing a disservice to by not sharing the business, the opportunity, the service, the product, or even just that like little idea that you think. But for me, when it came to entrepreneurship, I think my desire was like to not relive the same thing that my family did. So we came from Colombia. We didn’t have a lot. My family deals with so many different struggles from my mom having an autoimmune to my parents being separated to just like a whole life of things. I just said, when I come here and knowing that I have this opportunity in this country, I want freedom. I want the opportunity to give my mom the life she desires because she brought us to Canada. I want to be able to yes, have the freedom, have the money and have the fun, but have joy in my life, and I think that was my inspiration to entrepreneurship. I did work as a bartender, and so I had the flexibility of money but didn’t have joy. Right? I had I didn’t really have freedom because I was working like a slave to make all this money. And then what? Right? So this desire as an entrepreneur is like, I can make an impact in a larger scope to so many people, my family, the community. And then also just talking about Jesus everywhere I go. So, yeah. [177.6s]

Patricia [00:14:07] [00:14:07]Wow, that’s beautiful! And when you’re talking to these people and giving them that advice about like earlier, you said you might change someone’s life just by telling your story. Not everyone I feel like, has that innate confidence in themselves to share their story, and I’m sure you talked to a lot of your clients and tell them the importance of storytelling. So how do you tell them and how do you advise them to go about sharing their own, you know, journey? Like sometimes it could be very overwhelming to be vulnerable, especially on the Internet. So what do you usually tell your clients about storytelling? [30.8s]

Sofia Aguilar [00:14:38] [00:14:38]So I tell them to talk to, like usually again, like, you know, we go through different phases of how we work with clients, but when I’m talking to them, they tell me everything. Like they’re just like an open book. And then I’m like, “What would it look like if there’s a camera in front of you?” And instantly they would go into shock like, I don’t think I can do with the camera, but to me, what are people going to say? And the main concept is, what do you want people to know? What do you want? Because you’re right, not everybody wants to share. Not everybody wants to show their whole private life. And the good thing is we get to control what we put out there. Right? And so I have lots of clients that even say like, “Well, I don’t have a story to tell. Like, I’ve, you know, gone to school, gotten a job, you know, worked my whole life, and now I’m an entrepreneur. Like, that’s my story.” And I’m like, “Exactly. That’s your story.” And I think we make more out of it than it really is. Like, it’s just like us having a conversation. So I usually tell them, “Grab your phone. Speak to your phone like it’s me and say who you are. What you do. How you help people. And even in that, before you even get there, like, why did you decide to do this?” And as soon as I can get them to tell me their like passion or their “why,” whether it’s their kids or their family, it just lights them on fire. And that’s the confidence that they need. I think everybody needs to be reminded of their “why.” And once they are, they’re connected to that “why,” and it gives them the confidence to do it. And you’re going to do it. And I always tell them, “Do it scared. Do it scared. Try it out. You know what’s the worst thing that can happen?” Right? The worst thing that can happen is it’s out on the Internet. The best thing that can happen is people resonate with it. You build your community, you can make money from it, and you begin to impact on a larger level. So I just tell them like, you know, what’s the worst case scenario? People don’t watch it. Okay, great. Even better, nobody watches it. Right? But if they do, that possibility is what I remind them about. [119.3s]

Patricia [00:16:38] [00:16:38]That’s really beautiful! I feel like a lot of people think that you got – it has to be perfect. Everything has to be perfect. Like the background, how you look before you even, like, start showing yourself authentically online, and it’s really not the case. I feel like people resonate more when you, you know, you’re imperfect. You know, that’s what really gets people thinking that, “Oh, this person is authentic. I really want to listen to their story.” That’s really amazing! And now that we’re talking about, like, how you started and growing your business, like could you talk about the strategies that you use to attract your first clients? [27.4s]

Sofia Aguilar [00:17:06] [00:17:06]So when I started, and I have my podcast as well that I try to like share that information. But I love when I get asked this question because when I started, I thought like, okay, I don’t know a lot of people or I did know a lot of people, but I didn’t actually like envision who was going to be my client. But I knew people that knew business owners, right? So I, for example, my brother-in-law was a real estate agent or is a real estate agent. My sister was in the esthetic space, so I thought, well, I could reach out to them. So for a lot of people, they don’t reach out to their family members because they always say, like your family and your friends are not going to support you. Those are my biggest supporters, my family. And in a way where I first said, hey, let me just create some content, I’m going to give it to you completely free. You let me know if you love it. And that’s when I was like, I’m really good at this. After that, I decided to run a beta program. So I said, I want to offer this, you know, exclusive opportunity to a few people. Let me create your content for a smaller fee. And then that’s when I realized like, okay, I’m doing a lot of work for this amount of money and people love it. But I also got constructive criticism, right? And I think that’s what this is where a lot of businesses pull back and don’t like this part of business, because it’s not sexy. This is the part of business that you are going to cringe and you are going to hate – is getting feedback. And I got feedback of like, you know, “It was too short of a time” or, you know, “I would have preferred, you know, some preparation in the beginning.” They gave me incredible feedback. But what I could have done with that was, “Oh my gosh, nobody likes this. Oh, they hate it. I’m just never going to do it. I’m going to go hide under a rock.” Right? That’s sometimes what happens with feedback. But I use this to upscale my experience. So then I, you know, called it a VIP Content Day. I rebranded and I just kept sharing the outcome. I kept sharing what is possible when you post on social media, I had my own personal success story, like me myself, of what I was able to do. I didn’t really have other testimonials, so I created those success stories by leveraging those – that beta program that I mentioned, right? And then from there, I would just post consistently every single day. I spoke about VIP Content Day. Every single day I gave myself a task to talk about what you would be able to receive when you posted content consistently. What would your brand look like? What would people say about you? I would pull up statistics of what they say about marketing, and content, and personal branding. Like, I was talking about this from the moment I woke up to the moment I went to bed, I made sure I had a brand, like I had – and when I say a brand, I made sure that I had somewhere that people could contact me, whether it was a small little website, an email. I was still using my dance email at the time. I didn’t have anything professional, but I just made sure that I was the top of mind to people. I wasn’t taking no for an answer. I was like, “You need a content creator? It’s me.” If anyone says the word content strategist or creator, me. I wanted to make sure that if you thought content or social media, you thought of Sofia. So that’s what I did. I positioned myself as an authority figure and a thought leader, and that’s when, you know, not only the clients for Content Day started happening, but then speaking engagements, workshops and all that. [193.8s]

Patricia [00:20:21] [00:20:21]I love that! I love that when you said, you know, you take feedback to upscale your services even more. That’s like, it really shows the dedication and the passion in your craft. But I wanted to ask you, like, how do you maintain that balance between authenticity and strategy when you’re creating content? [15.2s]

Sofia Aguilar [00:20:36] [00:20:36]Balance is my – I’m still trying to figure out this balance thing because it is hard, right? For me, this is what I eat, live, and breathe. I eat, live and breathe content creation, social media strategy, right? So for me, authenticity is a strategy. Showing you exactly what I’m experiencing in my business is a part of the strategy because it’s what I teach in my programs, right? So I let’s say, you know, I struggle with planning my day. Well, guess what? In my program, I teach on how to structure your content plan or your shot list for success. Right? So I use my weaknesses and form them into strengths, because once I have, I believe, like the best teacher, somebody who has gone through it. So if I’m going through it, and I’m learning the strategy that I’m investing in that I can teach it and help you surpass that as well. But I think it’s just really being true to yourself. I think when you’re true to yourself and when you know who you are, being authentic isn’t like a facade that you play. And then when it comes to being implemented in your strategy, it’s who you are. So you live from that space. We don’t have to create it. We don’t have to draw it up and mock it up. And I do believe in an 80-20 rule. So there is a like, you know, 80% that I share of my lifestyle and 20 or sorry, 80% selling mostly, but my selling comes from so many different layers. And then 20% is like personal lifestyle. And sometimes the ratio changes. You know, sometimes I’m posting more lifestyle, I’m more personal than selling. But I really think it’s finding what feels good for you because only you know what that feels like. So, yeah, that’s my…[94.7s]

Patricia [00:22:12] [00:22:12]Your approach. And how has your social media content evolved throughout the years? [4.5s]

Sofia Aguilar [00:22:17] [00:22:17]I think at the beginning I was just like, I’m posting every single day doing whatever wherever, and it burned me out. I’m going to be honest with you. I had no strategy. I was just doing to do, because that’s what, you know, that’s what we do. We just figure it out. There was no – I didn’t know who to invest in. And I had invested in social media gurus, and that was the hardest thing, because everybody was telling me to do something different, and I couldn’t figure it out. And so I was just doing whatever. I burnt out. I was – I didn’t feel passionate anymore. I was like, “I’m done with this.” And it’s evolved, because it showed me that I needed to provide some systems into my business. I needed to have like a systems of operations, like SOPs. I needed to give myself deadlines. I needed to actually create my day to day because what I thought – I’m a creative, right? As a social media person, artist, I’m a creative, and then I’m a business owner. So my business mind hadn’t adapted into the fact like, “Girl, we can’t spend ten hours creating content and editing, because this is a business.” So now you’re working more in your business than you are on your business. So I think my social media strategy changed from working smarter, not harder. So that’s when I implemented 30 days of content in one day. I did it for myself, creating a month worth of content in five hours and really being able to execute that at a high level. So for the rest of the 29 days, I could focus on working on the business, talking to people, sales, calls, and all that. So I really try to streamline it to say, create, edit, and film in one day, and then do everything else that you’re good at with, you know, working client strategies and all that. So my social media is taken care of, and then I can serve my clients. [97.0s]

Patricia [00:23:55] [00:23:55]I think that’s when people find it hardest. When you are naturally artistic, and you are creative, but you have to treat content creation as a business, because that’s what it is. It’s kind of evolves throughout the years as something that used to just be for fun, and now, you know, people actually make money out of it. So I think that’s like, you know, the pivot for you and, you know, finding your success was really treating kind of content creation as a business. And for aspiring content creators out there, do you think it’s important to find a niche in social media like or how can one find their niche if that is important? [32.3s]

Sofia Aguilar [00:24:28] [00:24:28]I think you have to ask yourself what you love to do. And I know this is kind of like contrary to what I was saying, that, you know, I had a hobby and I had a passion, but content creation becomes hard once you’re not aligned with the content that you’re creating or the business that you’re creating it for. So when I think of niching down, I think of getting clear with the people you love to work with and the people that you don’t. Because there are clients that I don’t take on simply because I can’t get behind their mission and their vision. I can’t get behind the product or the strategy, right? And that’s not to say, you know, their business isn’t good. It’s just means that I can refer somebody who works in that space. People know me as somebody who can work with service providers, product based businesses, events, and services, and corporate, but we do consultations to say, are you a good fit? And, you know, doing those will, then you can understand, “Hey, fitness is my niche. I help fitness trainers create high quality content,” or I help coaches, or I help consultants, or I help only product-based, right? Because I think you have an eye for specific things. I have an eye for like really fast movements, and coaching, and talking, and like, that kind of style, because I do it right? But if you put me, and I will be straight up honest, I can do the strategy for market for – like, the marketing strategy for a product company, but when it comes to the content, I hire one of our content creators to create the content for our product-based business, because it’s not my specialty. And I think knowing what you’re good at and knowing what you’re not, and if you’re good at everything, then what do you enjoy doing the most? What lights you up? Because when we feel good, we produce great work. [96.1s]

Patricia [00:26:04] And I think that also shows, because you’re so virtually there, and people can actually see if you’re like passionate about something. I really admired, like when you say if it don’t align with like a company’s mission or their values, then you’re not going to take them on as a client. I think that’s really respectible, because a lot of people just, you know, there are some people out there who would just like take it for the money and, you know, show a product, even though it’s not really in alignment with what they do or who they are. So I think that’s really great advice.

Sofia Aguilar [00:26:34] [00:26:34]And I’ve done that. And like, I’ll be super honest, I’ve done that at the beginning. I took every client and every single client. And can I tell you that it was like, I could tell the difference of the clients I’d love to work with or that I was even good at working with them, because there was never any hiccups. And if there were, super easy resolved. And then those that, you know, we weren’t really aligned and I knew it from the get go, it was just so hard. It felt so hard. And I would come home and I would complain. I would be exhausted. I would be bitter. And then that started becoming my sign. Like Sofia, like, what is it? Is it the actual business or is it that you just need to set boundaries? And I think that was that is that I didn’t know that. Right? Because we all need money. But what are you willing to do for the money? Is it be like bitter, upset, tired, exhausted or like – and that doesn’t mean that every day is going to be a perfect day, but you get to decide as an entrepreneur. That’s why we become entrepreneurs, because we want to choose everything that we do. [52.4s]

Patricia [00:27:27] [00:27:27]And what do you think are some of the common mistakes that other content creators make and how do you think they can avoid doing that? [6.1s]

Sofia Aguilar [00:27:34] [00:27:34]I see a lot of mistakes on social media right now that are opportunities. So I see a lot of opportunities. Let’s not call them mistakes. Let’s call them opportunities. I see tons of opportunities for content creators that are up on the roar and the rising of, you know, becoming these these content creators, is that they don’t talk about themselves. They talk about the client, they talk about the results, but they don’t ever share their personal experience, their founder story. And people don’t buy into the service that you do. They don’t buy into the outcome. They buy into who you are as an individual. And so I think that’s one opportunity. I think the second one is that thinking that they need better equipment to deliver high quality results, they just need a streamlined workflow. Yes, equipment will get you far, but you can buy all of the equipment and still have poor quality content and strategy because you didn’t focus on the workflow. So I think we think quality, but it’s really the quality is great when it comes to the content like visuals, but that could be greatly affected if you’re not editing correctly. If you don’t have like a proper shot list, a plan of execution. So I really look at it from such a holistic space of like you have to literally plan from the moment you connect with the client. And that’s another opportunity is that a lot of, again, a lot of content creators, “We’re creatives! We just want to go ahead and shoot. Just I’m going to pull up to the spot and film,” but this is a business which means your clients want to have Intel, they want to have, you know, what happens on this day. They want to have systems, they want to receive emails, they want to be in the loop of the client journey. And because we’re creatives, we don’t really think about that. We think about the visuals, and the outcome, and the film, and the cinematography. But there’s invoices that need to be sent. There’s calendar dates that need to be planned, there’s documents that need to be sent for preparation for the client. So that’s another opportunity. And then lastly, that they’re not investing in themselves and their learning. I have to say, and I have screenshots to show that I’ve invested over $50,000 in training myself, whether it was courses, mentors, events, networking opportunities and you name it, even equipment, right? I’ve done it all because I believe that if I invest in myself, others will be willing to invest in me. Also, that gives me an opportunity to tap into a higher level each time, so I make sure that I’m well-versed, right? I’ve been in the rooms. I can have those conversations, which lead me to having a better, you know, like helping my clients feel more comfortable. Right? I think that that’s another thing. As a content creator, we focus a lot on the visuals, but not on the client relationships. Client relationship is key. That’s how you’re going to maintain a retainer client. That’s how you’re going to get referrals. So yeah, that was a long spiel. But you know, it’s really about investing in yourself in all capacity, getting into the rooms, networking, building systems. I think I said at all. [189.4s]

Patricia [00:30:45] [00:30:45]Since we’re talking about investing in yourself and the importance of having a workflow and a plan, do you have any tools or resources that you would recommend for someone who’s looking to improve their social media presence? [9.6s]

Sofia Aguilar [00:30:55] [00:30:55]I mean, little plug. I will be launching my Content Creator Academy soon, so that will be your all in one resource and hub as an aspiring content creator, as an agency to do that. But for me, I think my biggest, you know, look at events near you. Look for opportunities near you. Google, you know, events in Toronto, events near me, events this weekend. Because chances are, if you don’t have any clients right now, you head into that room, and you meet people, you now have a potential of 10-20 clients. So that’s a resource, Google. When it comes to social media strategy, I always say follow those who inspire you and ask questions, right? We’re on social media. This is a social platform, and I find that I actually don’t have a lot of people reaching out for me, reaching out to me for advice as much as I do when I am in person at an event. People are like, “Wow, I’ve been wanting to message you, but I just don’t, because I’m scared. But now, I can reach out to you as you’re in person.” Reach out to your fellow creators. I reach out to people that I’m inspired by and I say like, “Hey, I saw this video. Can you support me in this? Or, you know, can I just ask you a quick question?” Do that. Reach out. Contact people. YouTube is huge too. Like if you are somebody for long-form training, that’s how I train myself to use my camera. YouTube. I used YouTube to teach myself on how to do my camera podcast setup. Right? So really tap into your free resources, because this is all free, our social networks. And then yeah, I would say that. Like don’t get caught up in buying so many of these like free courses. I did that, you know, getting all these freebies, the $5 or the $7 and those are great, but if you’ve hit a point where you’re like, “I’ve bought all of these courses.” Sometimes, what you need is someone, one on one, to take a look at your blindspots and to support you along the way, because we’re not meant to do this business alone. [109.6s]

Patricia [00:32:46] And since we’re already talking about it, could you tell us more about the Creator Academy and what the participants can expect from it?

Sofia Aguilar [00:32:52] Yeah. So I mean, it’s in the works and every time I just add more and more and more. I was supposed to launch it already, but I just really want to package this Content Creator Academy. Think about it as your graduate certificate bachelor program for creators. You know, you go to school for marketing business and you really walk out with a bunch of books and papers, but not a lot of hands on experience. So this is my opportunity to really level up the creator who’s looking for the business support. So building your offer, pricing, how do you charge, what are the different tiers of charging and then really being able to turn it into an offer. Some people are just like, “Oh yeah, like, I do film one video.” No, because that’s not sustainable. So building a sustainable business down to invoicing contracts. We’ll have guest experts on sales, guest experts on automations, building out those campaigns, website portfolio design, all the things, and then also having a community. I really believe that one of the things that would have accelerated my growth in the very beginning stages was having a community and accountability. A lot of us start, but we don’t finish. And when I was halfway into my business, I joined a community that held me accountable, that helped me show up. We were engaging and that actually is what escalate, like accelerated my business, was having that community. So there will be a community, there will be live calls with me. And so it’s a hybrid program, live and online, and I’ll be having exclusive meet up opportunities. So where we can do events, we can do, you know, just hang out lunches, retreat style. So it will be like an all in one for content creators. And even if you are, you know, let’s say an agency or a corporation who has a social media manager on your team, they need to be a part of the academy because that’s going to sharpen their skills to support you as a business. So it’s kind of that like design for social media managers, aspiring social media managers, those people that want to level up their portfolio. And then corporations that want to invest in their staff of social media individuals to help them show up better for their business, too. If they don’t have the opportunity to hire somebody like me, those individuals can learn directly from me and add in those skill sets in there. And then other things, you know, that I didn’t mention, obviously editing, filming, capturing the shots, building a content calendar, or making sure your clients are happy. Just like those things that you don’t learn and you’re just missing out on. So yeah, the Content Creator Academy, when it’s done, and launched, and ready to come out, you will definitely be the first to hear. And I’m sure that you guys can, you know, provide it to a lot of your community members. But this is really my dream, is to equip those who, you know, I was once there and I didn’t have the support. So I want to be able to do this back for them.

Patricia [00:35:44] That’s really exciting. And we’ll have all the links on your website in our descriptions so people know where to find you. And what about the 30 days of content that you were talking about earlier? What is that masterclass about? How did you create it and what was the inspiration behind creating that masterclass?

Sofia Aguilar [00:36:01] Yeah. So our signature offer, our signature program is called the VIP Content Day, which is 30 days of content in one day. So this is where my clients hire myself and the team to create 30 days of content for them in one day. It’s a full done for you model. Our clients show up, they get filmed, we edit, we do the whole thing from start to finish. Strategy, scripting, filming, editing, and even sometimes posting. Now we understand that not everybody can pay a high ticket, although it’s not, you know, super expensive, you know, it comes down to maybe like $50 a video once everything’s said and done. But I know that there’s not a lot of people that can do the done for you. So when we created the Masterclass, I thought, “Okay, if people can’t hire us to do it all, can I teach them to come up with the 30 days of content on their own to film and on their own?” Because I understand, right? Our economy, small business, all the things, I still wanted to be able to give those an opportunity to learn for me and my framework. So the 30 Days of Content Masterclass, you’ll learn how to craft your content pillars, how to create content from those pillars, which is super simple. It’s literally three. It’s like a mind map that I create. And then from there, we create three topics and then out of those come up with three ideas. So literally ends up totaling like amazing hooks, scripting strategies, and even visuals to help you design those – that collateral that you need for your social media for 30 days. And yeah, I was just in mind of saying, how do we turn the, you know, done for you offer into doing it yourself. And obviously it’s not the same as if you were to do it yourself. You still have to do the scripting, come up with the content, film it all, edit it all. But you know, it’s much better than you not having any resources and just watching me kind of do these VIP Content Days for our clients for high ticket. Now you’re able to do it for a low ticket.

Patricia [00:37:47] That’s really great! I mean, when you talk about the filming process, so you film them one day and then basically you create a month’s worth of content from just that one filming day?

Sofia Aguilar [00:37:58] Yes. Yeah. So we get them to be in multiple outfits. We provide the strategy for, you know, what hooks they’re going to use. A lot of our clients either have a launch coming up or they have something that they want to share. So we’ll break down the content pillars of that and then we give them a whole raw content drive, because I really believe in having lots of content to pull from. I mean, we always go above and beyond for our client. So even beyond like 30 days of content, you’ll definitely have more to choose from. But that’s where they really get to just show up. Come with your different outfits. You get pictures, you get videos, whether it’s short form, talking head style, podcast, B-roll. Even a lot of our clients use our content for their websites. We used to work with a website designer who would, you know, all of our content that we would film for a client, they would input into website newsletters. So it’s really beyond social media.

Patricia [00:38:53] That’s really fascinating. But how does that differ from the Content Creator Bootcamp that you also offer?

Sofia Aguilar [00:38:58] Yeah, so great question! I love this! I actually never – I feel like I should talk about this more on my social media as well, but like, the difference. But every time I think about where my clients are at and why they haven’t worked with me, I’m literally like, “Why haven’t you worked with me?” There is over 36,000 people on my page, and I don’t have 36,000 clients. Let me tell you that. I’m at like 600, 700, but I’m still like, you know, “Where are the rest of the 30,000 of you?” And so, I notice that there’s gaps, right? So, in the 30 Days of Content Masterclass, they don’t teach you how to fully extensively edit, extensively film, or even like, extensively strategize beyond the 30 days, right? The bootcamp was supposed to be a three-day training for 30 minutes. It ended up being a three-day training for two hours each. So this was a live, now it’s prerecorded, so you’ll be able to catch the replay, and it comes with a 60-page social media success planner. So, it literally teaches you my workflow on how to film from the research, to the planning, to the filming. It gives you my content planner. It gives you my timesheet planner to plan out your schedule better as a creator or as a brand or for your clients. I have a shot list in there. I have, like, it is a boot camp. It is designed to take you through, like as if you were doing pushups, squats, and all the things, that but content creation style. So filming, editing, I go through a challenge of prompts there as well. So I actually, in live time, I’m telling you, do this, do this, do this, because we have such a long time together, you’re really able to walk through each phase that I’m teaching you, and we do it live together. There’s also a Q&A, and then you get the PDF workbook as well. And then on the VIP one, So there’s a two-day and then there’s the three-day one. On the three-day, they actually get the tips and tricks that I have to tell them when I’m filming it for a client. So there’s a difference. So that day is more so designed for that, you know, content creator, you know who has clients, because I’m teaching you how to do that for clients. So how to set up the content day for them, how to film for them, how to edit for them, because it changes. Those who who do it for themselves and those who do it for other people.

Patricia [00:41:12] Wow, I love that. And you also have the Confident Creator Guide. Could you share with us some of the key takeaways that you can get from that guide?

Sofia Aguilar [00:41:21] Yes. So the Confident Creator Guide is your beginner bestie. It is, you know, that one teaches you how to storytell. That one’s teaching you how to show up on stories. That one’s teaching you the very beginning prompts of your “why.” It’s getting your brain activated into, “What the heck am I doing as a creator, and how do I get confident in it?” I am actually reworking the guide because that was my first ever program. That was my first ever course, the first ever anything I launched after the VIP Content Day, because I just thought, okay, let me have something for a beginner. So that is like super beginner friendly, like where do I start? How do I talk about my business? What’s my story? How do I show up online? What’s the frequency? That one is, like, my baby. I haven’t even taken it off, but I look like I grew up. But I have a different face shade, different hair color, different everything. And so, I’m going to be reworking that one, but it is your beginner Confident Creator Guide.

Patricia [00:42:17] So if someone came to you and was like, “I really feel like I’m ready to become a content creator and make a business out of this, but I don’t have a platform. I’m literally starting from scratch,” what program would you advise them to take or what advice would you give them in general when they’re starting out an entirely new platform on social media?

Sofia Aguilar [00:42:39] Usually these individuals will book a strategy session or a discovery session with me because their struggle is that they need to talk through it with somebody. You could take a program, so not that my programs wouldn’t help you, but you would already know like, this is what I want to do, right? This is the platform that I need. This is that. Right? So a strategy intensive or discovery call will really just take what’s in your head, because a lot of the times the reason why you haven’t started is because you don’t have a blueprint or you don’t have that push. Like somebody needs to light a fire under your butt. And you could do that by just messaging me, right? I do offer a 15 minute coffee chat. So, I would say like, you know, book just a free 15-minute coffee chat with me. But if you want to go into an intensive to have more of a blueprint, a game plan for you, then do that. But as soon as the Content Creator Academy is open for enrollment, that’s it. That is your beginner space. That is where you need to be to start, to start or whether to continue, whether you’re in the beginner, intermediate, or advanced level of your journey. The Content Creator Academy is going to be the place that you want to plug into. But right now, right now, I would do the bootcamp.

Patricia [00:43:42] [00:43:42]All right. I’m really excited for the Creator Academy, and I think that’s a lot of people. But I also wanted to ask, because like, social media has evolved so much that you can have an amazing piece of content, but it’s not necessarily going to work on all different platforms. Like it might do well on TikTok, but it may not resonate on reels, or Instagram, or Facebook. So I wanted to ask you, how do you tailor your social media strategies to different platforms? [23.9s]

Sofia Aguilar [00:44:07] [00:44:07]Yeah. So something that a lot of people may not know, because this is super on the back end. I don’t promote the service at all. I’m actually a marketing consultant for a lot of my clients that I’ve done the VIP days for. I’ve done all the things and now they have a team, so I lead their teams. So think of me as like the fractional chief marketing officer, and that’s my job, to really show them that what you post on TikTok, and what you post on Instagram, and what you post on YouTube, email lists, LinkedIn, X threads, cannot have the same strategy. So I really go through a market analysis of each platform and language. Messaging is everything, okay? We have to look at the platforms that are being utilized by different generations and how could we get the most out of our messaging? So on Instagram I may be more straightforward. My tonality is very like authentic. Here’s me, you see a video of me. And then threads, I can be more agitated and fierce. And then LinkedIn, I’m a little bit more professional, but still the same piece of content. We’re just tailoring it with a different message to speak to an audience. So I really just – I kind of create like a master document for my clients, and we do client avatars to really understand who are our ideal clients on which platform and what is the messaging, and the wording, the tonality that we’re going to use. [80.6s]

Patricia [00:45:28] [00:45:28]And how do you measure the success of these social media strategies? [3.1s]

Sofia Aguilar [00:45:32] [00:45:32]So it’s totally – it depends on how you measure success, right? For me, when I first started, my measure was how many people was I having conversations with every day? Because I knew that a conversation was a message away from a signed contract. And so for some people, it’s maybe you’re starting your platform at zero, engagement or visibility, just pumping out content, right? For some people, it’s link clicks. I always say, like, are people clicking your links? Are people visiting your profile? Your followers are a reflection of how many people want to receive more value from you. So as you’re following goes up, it’s about how many lives are impacting and how many people are being impacted by your content as well and how much reach. I look at stories. Stories are huge. The sticker engagement, how many people you have watching your stories. And then obviously, we all want to make money on social media. That is no, you know, no surprise. But if you have missing gaps of like automations, right? Let’s say you have ten people DMing you and you don’t get back to them. So you have the DMs, but you don’t have the conversion because you’re not having the conversation. So I like to identify those gaps with my clients before we even give them measurable like, you know, is it ten? I’ve had clients that had 50K launches in 48 hours with our strategies and with our content, but they also had their systems in place. So it’s really about everyone’s individual approach and also their game plan that can tie in together. Because yeah, you can have great content. The messaging, it’s going to [91.3s] [00:47:04]tumble down. [0.1s] [00:47:05]You can have great messaging, you can have great content, but if you don’t have a system in place to message them, and DM them, and communicate with them, and get them to go to your, you know, your sales page or all that, then we’re missing out on the sale. [10.9s]

Patricia [00:47:17] So, it’s not just as important as putting the content out there. There has to be like a follow through, like you have to keep that, like, connection with them. To, you know, hone in some clients. But how would you – could you discuss the importance of consistency in social media posting?

Sofia Aguilar [00:47:33] So consistency is one of those things that I always tell my clients, like, you need to be consistently consistent, not consistently inconsistent. Consistently and consistency looks like I post once a week every week. So you’re inconsistent for six days, but then you show up once a week, you’re posting and ghosting. Right? So what kind of consistency are you? And a consistency that doesn’t burn you out. Could be 3 to 4 days a week. You’re posting reels, a carousel and a feed post. Stories 3 to 4 times a day. Maybe even I go 5 to 10 times a day. But it’s totally up to you. So building yourself, like, this is a daily method of operation, right? I think of, like, when I was a bartender, I had to cut limes every single morning and count how much liquor there was, and you know, polish my forks and my cutlery. That was my daily method of operations. As social media for this business, our daily method of operations is film some stories, post some content, create some content, and follow up with your client. So, add that into your daily method of operations. To be consistent, have 3 to 4 posts coming out, and that’s better than having seven. If seven posts is not feasible for you or doable, don’t do that, because then you’re going to go seven days for one week, and then you’re not going to post for the rest of the month, and then you’re just gone from Instagram, right? So if 3 to 4 posts a week is sustainable for you every single week, then I prefer you doing that, because then your community is able to see you consistently.

Patricia [00:49:01] [00:49:01]And what do you say to your clients who feel stuck in their social media efforts? [3.9s]

Sofia Aguilar [00:49:06] [00:49:06]I would say it’s an indication that we need to try something different, because what’s gotten you here is not what’s going to get you to the next place. Maybe, you know, talking head videos got you here. But you know, the next level needs to be we do talking head videos and B-roll. So be willing to give it a try. It is okay to get stuck. We all get stuck. I have gotten stuck. And I love when people blame things on the algorithm, but then they don’t have a solution. So yes, we can blame it on the fact that, you know, Instagram is only putting these videos out on the For You page and all that, so then what are we going to do about it? So I really say like, what can we do? Like, let’s work together. Can we films and talking head videos? Great! Let’s do that and change up the strategy. Can we add in some trends? Right? Like, what can we really revisit? How can we bring on the community? And a lot of the times it’s just assessing the language and the messaging that we have on our content. [52.9s]

Patricia [00:50:00] And could you give us some advice on ways to repurpose content to maximize reach and impact?

Sofia Aguilar [00:50:06] Yeah. So for example, let’s say if you have a content idea like how I create 30 days of content in one day, right? I’ll just give you my example. I can repurpose that into a reel and teach you how to do it. I could also create a carousel, and make you swipe and learn how to do it. I could also create an article on LinkedIn and teach people how to do it and put that into a newsletter. I could also create a b-roll video of me setting up my tripod and adding text on screen. So one idea can give you ten pieces of content. And I look at this as sensory-based creation, because we can see it, we can hear it, we can, okay, we can’t touch it, but we can have some sort of like, physical explanation to it. So really allowing your audience to receive the value in different senses.

Patricia [00:50:54] And I wanted to ask, what has been the most rewarding part of your entrepreneurial journey so far?

Sofia Aguilar [00:51:01] So one, since I actually became Christian, you know, life is hard, right? Entrepreneurship is hard. Business is hard. I talk a lot about my faith, and although not every day is sunshine and rainbows, I have the confidence that I’m here for a purpose. I’m here for a reason and that God loves me. And through being able to share this message of hope across platforms, in a world where people find validation from social media, money, people, clothes, really having people find God or find a church or find, you know, one of my devotionals or my Bible scriptures on my page and help them get through a tough moment in their life, that has really been very fulfilling. I think, you know, there’s so many different platforms and there’s so many ways that people can use it to tear down and to hate for business. So one of my biggest joys is using my platform as an entrepreneur to accelerate what God is doing on this earth. And then the second one, I would say, seeing the evolution of myself and of my clients, how we started, where we are, you know, like, a lot of people look back at their story and sometimes it’s like, “Wow, how do I even get here?” And I think that’s that’s one thing for me is like, how did I go from being an immigrant and, you know, not really speaking English, and now, I speak Spanish, French and English. Not really wanting to go to school. I didn’t have the best grades, couldn’t keep the best memory, couldn’t keep up with anything, to be honest, to graduating college now having a business. And I also have traveled the world for a lot of my clients. So my like, my joy is traveling the world. And so the fact that I get to do that and meet people and create content for them is literally like the best thing that anyone can ask for. And that’s a great accomplishment that I’ve been able to have. I would say the third thing is a client telling me that because they were able to [00:52:58]stop [0.0s] focusing on their business, on their content creation I was giving them so much stress, they were able to focus on growing their family. And I think that this shows me that content creation is bigger than just filming a video. It’s giving you the freedom. And hiring me is more than just me filming videos and providing a strategy. It’s giving you the freedom to do the things that you desire, not just in business, but growing your family, not just in making money, but in being able to travel and take a week off social media and not have to focus on it because our team is taking care of it, right? So it’s beyond that. For me, it’s about impact. That’s what really fulfills me. And that’s been the biggest joy of being an entrepreneur.

Patricia [00:53:36] That’s really beautiful. Thank you for sharing that. And I wanted to talk about, like, I think one other hindrance that people encounter when they’re trying to be online and, you know, show up authentically online is being afraid of criticism and negative feedback. And earlier, you were saying that, you know, you use feedback to empower yourself more. So I wanted to ask, like, how do you handle criticism or negative feedback on social media?

Sofia Aguilar [00:54:02] This is probably so cliche. We probably hear this so often, but any feedback is an indication that you’re doing the right thing, right? Nobody that has ever done anything great didn’t experience any backlash for what they did. Because if you want to be an extraordinary person, you’re going to do extraordinary things. And if you’re going to be a great person, there’s always going to be people that are trying to weigh you down. So I think that that’s an indication that I’m like, I’m ruffling feathers or I’m making, you know, people have something to say because of what I’m doing. And I always say, like a lot of the time when people have something to say, it’s a projection of how they either feel about themselves or something that they’re going through. So I like to look at it with grace. I’m like, “Yo, I’m sorry you’re going through that. Like, that must suck.” Right? I’ve been told everywhere from that I look bald, to I have a pig nose, or I look like a man, or I sound like a man or that like, you know, all the things, racism you could think of. And I just think of like, “You must be so hurt behind that.” And sometimes, it’s people that desire to have a platform like ours. So I see it with inspiration and grace. And then again, if you want it, be prepared to have some sort of backlash if you’re doing great things. And especially if you’re advocating, especially if you’re going against the grain. But always remember that God has your back. Because at the end of the day, we are doing this for a greater purpose. And if I wasn’t talking about my faith the way I am and being bold, you know, maybe I wouldn’t have a lot of backlash. Maybe I would have more clients. Maybe I would be making more money. But I trust God and I trust that if I’m supposed to be here advocating and sharing and if that means I’m making less money as a result of it, I know He’s got it taken care of. So that’s my inspiration behind it. That negative feedback and negative comments, and you know, block it. Don’t look at it if you don’t like it. That’s the beauty of the things we can delete. We can block. We can eliminate. And once your “why” is stronger, and you remember who you are, yes, we have bad days, but you remember who you are. Somebody would call you a green bush. You know you’re not a green bush. Why would you believe somebody calling you a green bush? So that’s kind of my approach to that.

Patricia [00:56:18] [00:56:18]Yeah, people are always going to have something to say. But when you stay true to your, you know, your mission, that doesn’t really matter anymore. Earlier, you were talking about burnout. Could you tell us what keeps your creative juices flowing and how do you avoid burnout when you’re creating so much quality content? [16.3s]

Sofia Aguilar [00:56:35] [00:56:35]Burnout is something that a lot of people don’t talk about, and I will say I’m still in it. I’m still in this burnout of it just feels so hard to create because my brain is in, like, there’s blank! That’s what burnout feels like! It feels blank! And I just had to do things that brought me joy. I got offline. I got fully plugged out. And I was like, “What is going to light me up again?” I started taking walks. And that’s the thing is, like, when we’re in the creative space, and all we’re consuming is the digital space, and the content, and our clients, we lose sight of the world around us. And that’s what I had to do. I had to get out of the digital space for a little bit, get back into my friend groups, get into my social life, go to my backyard and touch the grass with my bare feet, like, little things, and build a boundary. Right? Build a schedule around how I’m using social media, when I’m using it, who I’m talking to. Because all those things burn us out. It’s just having conversations that maybe don’t need to be had. How much time am I consuming? And I’ll say the biggest, the biggest, biggest, biggest, biggest blessing was having a VA. I was blessed with the best virtual assistant from this company called the Foreign Venture Group, and they found me like a dream come true assistant. So while I was like burnt out, not even wanted to touch emails, I had so many people emailing me. I had client content that I had to put out. My VA was like the CEO of the business for two weeks. And it’s so crazy to say that because I would have never in a million years thought that I would ever outsource anything in my business because I’m a control freak, and I want everything done by me. But having her was staple to that burnout, having community, my pastors, people praying for me and just being authentic about it. I went on social media and I said, “I’m burnt out, and this is how I feel. And so, you’re not going to see me, but if you need me, email me, but try not to need me.” And I was just really honest about it, because a lot of people resonated with that. And it’s going to happen, especially as creatives, we’re going to experience that burnout, and now, it’s what we do with it and make sure that we don’t – it doesn’t get as bad next time. That’s my desire that my next burnout isn’t as bad as this one. [142.0s]

Patricia [00:58:58] [00:58:58]Yeah, it’s really important to be offline sometimes. Not everything has to be virtual and learning the power of delegation, I guess, not putting all the work on yourself. Well, looking ahead, what do you think are the biggest challenges that social media content creators might face? What do you think are some things that can prepare them for that? [21.5s]

Sofia Aguilar [00:59:21] [00:59:21]I think our economy, something that a lot of people tell me is like, “Nobody has money nowadays.” And I think we need to find people that have recession proof businesses and serve them. And I think we need to get out of the mentality of like, if people can’t afford it, then we just – there are people that can afford things. People are buying houses. In any business, not just social media. We know people that are buying for million dollar homes. We know people that are traveling the world and buying private jets. We know people that are investing in marketing. We know people that are making the most amount of money right now. Tap into that. You know, you could say that the economy’s low. We just need to find better clients. Sorry, not better clients, clients that can afford our rate. I think also looking ahead just with like, I think how people are being more aware of how much time they spend digitally, maybe also a lot of social media. I know a lot of people will relate with me when I say this, but like when people think of virtual assistant, they say, yeah, I run my social media. When will think of a content creator, they think they’re also going to be social media managers. I think we need to be getting very clear with our titles and what we do and what we don’t do because like, you know, somebody could look at a VA and say, “Oh yeah, they do this, they do this, they do, like, all these ten tasks.” But the reality is they’re your virtual assistants, not your automation strategist, not your cold caller, not your social media manager. So really being clear with what your role is. And I think, like, the biggest thing is if you want to treat this like a business, you have to decide to treat it like a business, and not a side hustle, and not a hobby if you really want to get ahead. So I think that’s going to be the biggest key thing, is that in a saturated, I guess, space of there’s a lot of content creators, photographers, videographers is like, how are you going to set yourself apart? [109.0s]

Patricia [01:01:11] That’s really great. And just before I let you go, I wanted to ask you one last question. What are the – what does the future look like for you? What are the future goals and aspirations for your business? What are the vibes looking like?

Sofia Aguilar [01:01:26] I don’t know what the vibes – the vibes are giving so much, because I had a lot of time to reflect and think about like, “Do I want to do this for the rest of my life? Do I want to get a job? Do I want to just like be off the grid?” Safe to say I’m here to stay. I do want to write a book eventually. I feel like I’ve gone through a lot of things just in, like our family, personally, mentally, my business changes all my pivots, and I feel like I would be doing a disservice if I didn’t document all of this into like a blueprint for the upcoming generation. And that’s a strong desire that I have. I also used to launch – I used to host, like, events for content creators, business owners and entrepreneurs. And even though I’ve always dreamed of having a space, I feel, like, because I’m so mobile that I want to just have events everywhere. Like, I just want to be either hosting the events or being invited to events. I currently speak at events, so that. And I love being the creative director and marketing consultant. I’m tapping into those are actually my main clients right now as I’ve stepped off of the actual creation and I’ve been managing campaigns and I will love it. I love being, like I said, that chief marketing officer for my clients. That really takes on the whole marketing and social media planning and can delegate it to their teams. And that really just brings me joy. And so I’m looking forward to birthing more businesses and supporting them with their marketing strategies. Hopefully in, Jesus’ name, a book. And I don’t know, I guess just like travel more and just impact people. I love the in-person stuff. Online was great, Zoom was great, but like, we need the in-person vibes back, like, I’m missing the vibes of being in-person, so I’ll definitely make that happen sooner or later.

Patricia [01:03:26] That’s really exciting. The book makes so much sense because you were saying earlier, you’ve always documented everything. It just makes sense to write a book and you know the space, your office is, wherever you are now. You know, you started everything back in 2020 when everything had to be virtually. And now you can travel the world and, you know, do everything you do so well and see your clients in person. I think you could totally do that. I totally believe in you. And just before we go, do you have anything to say to our viewers? Advice? Anything you’d like to say before we we go?

Sofia Aguilar [01:03:59] Yeah, I would just say, don’t be afraid to pivot. Don’t be afraid to explore something new. And I think the new things is where we find a lot of fear, but fear is an indication that this might be the greatest thing we ever tap into. And if there’s no fear, sometimes there isn’t that like challenge and that inclination. So as much as fear can be scary, lean into it. Lean into that uncomfortable feeling. You know, done is better than perfect, you know, instead of waiting for the whole thing to be mapped out and posted, just do it. Again, cringey and cliché, but just do it and get it done. Collect the feedback. And if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. And if it works, then you know, you land yourself a goldmine, but never be afraid of making a move because you never know that next step that you take might be the most uncomfortable step, but it will set you up for the next big thing. That might be the only step you have to take, right? So just keep going, stay encouraged, and keep following along. Thank you! Honestly, the biggest thing is just thank you! Thank you for being a part of the journey. Thank you to you guys for having me on this incredible platform. I don’t think I’ve ever shared this much about me. So thank you for just, you know, asking these incredible questions and serving people in the way that you do, because I’m sure your services, which I have gotten to look at, but also just the platform they provide to really inspire people. So, thank you!

Patricia [01:05:33] Thank you so much, Sofia! I felt like a student in one of your master classes, and I’m definitely inspired. I’m sure everyone who’s watching and listening to us will be just as inspired as I was. Thank you so much for the time for gracing our podcast. And of course, thank you to our amazing listeners. This has been your host, Patricia. And remember, for all your professional business and technical writing needs, there’s only one way to go, and that’s with The Write Direction! See you, guys! Thank you so much, Sofia! It’s been great talking to you. Bye, guys! Ciao!

Sofia Aguilar [01:06:02] Bye!

Content Creator Sofia Aguilar aka the Content Queen Shares Success Tips

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Listen To The Full Episode Of An Entrepreneur’s Vibes Podcast featuring Sofia Aguilar

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