Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Camille Mola. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Camille, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Camille Mola, and I am a blogger, writer, and social media and marketing professional. Prior to my current role, I was the public relations and marketing director of a non-profit arts organization in Philadelphia. I am also a freelance photographer, content creator and founder of Positive Publicity Blog.

Positive Publicity is an independent Philadelphia-based lifestyle blog which covers dining, music, entertainment and much more. My blog serves several different purposes – highlighting Philadelphia-area businesses, interviewing fellow creatives, sharing my own personal musings, and more.

Between my professional career, freelancing, and content creation, I often find myself juggling many responsibilities and wearing many hats – but I thrive in this type of environment.

For as long as I can remember, I have loved hearing and telling stories in many different mediums. Whether it be through the stage, music, writing or photography, the heart of who I am is storytelling. This foundation and passion led me to a career in communications, which I continue to love to this day.

I will often interview and feature creatives on blog, which is something I’m extremely passionate about. I love being able to highlight and promote fellow creatives, and I’ve found so much support and community by doing this.

Anytime I can secure a great press placement and receive a positive reaction from the brand – this is when I’m most proud of the work I do. For many years, I worked with young, up-and-coming (and extremely talented) opera singers. Anytime I could secure a press placement for a singer who was early on in their career were some of my proudest moments. I think I was just as excited as they were!

My biggest advice for succeeding in this world – aside from being tenacious and passionate – is be kind. It’s imperative that you treat every person you work with respect, dignity, and warmth. When I say this, I don’t mean be kind for the sake of being kind. Kindness should emanate from your heart. People will remember how you made them feel, and that will play a very important role in whether or not they want to work with you again. However, your kindness and generosity should not be an invitation for others to walk all over you. It’s important to also set boundaries for yourself.

Foster those great relationships, keep learning, stay true to yourself, and go after what you want.

Camille, appreciate you joining us today. Do you think folks should manage their own social media or hire a professional? What do you do?

I’ve worked with social media in several different capacities – for my own personal blog, in my professional career, and with freelance clients. I look at each brand account and platform differently, and do my best to keep myself updated on every platform’s ever-changing algorithms and trends.

In 2014 while still in college, I was in my major’s first ever “Social Media for PR” class. I remember it seemed like everyone in my major wanted to be in this class, and I felt so lucky to be a part of it. So just to show you how much social media has changed since then – one of our assignments involved creating a Vine (RIP). And I got a C+ plus on a 6-second video! But this class and professor gave me an incredible foundation for a career in social media.

When I started my blog in 2012, I knew I wanted to (and needed to) incorporate social media into it. By doing this, it helped me expand my audience even more and reach people I never thought would be possible.

I’m currently working with a client right now to set up their new social media accounts, and we had a lengthy discussion about how social media can benefit them. I’m so excited to see the stories we’ll tell and the people that we’ll reach. I love these types of challenges, like building up a brand’s social media presence.

My biggest advice when it comes to approaching so media – be it professional or personal – is to have fun with it. Yes, it may seem like very obvious advice, but it’s something I wish I took to heart more. I put time and care into each of my posts, but I do my best to still have fun with it. But to be completely transparent, at this current moment I need to be taking my own advice more. I’ve been overanalyzing so much of my own content, to the point where I feel hesitant to even post. I think it’s important to be honest about this, especially in the social media realm.

Now in a professional setting, I’ve also found that a majority of the videos that have performed very well were spontaneous and unplanned, and often videos I put a ton of work in haven’t performed as well. Go figure! But it showed me that there are small moments all around us that are worth capturing.

Every person and business has a story, and people want to hear it. Social media can be your greatest tool in sharing your story.

Now when it comes to whether or not you’d like to hire a social media professional, really think about your goals. What are you hoping to achieve by being on social media? Is it to build brand awareness, drive new customers to purchase a product, or be an informational resource? Perhaps it’s all of the above.

Social media professionals are not just the ones posting content online. They are creating strategy, managing photoshoots, creating content, staying on top of trends, analyzing reports – there’s a lot going on there! I think when individuals and business owners realize how much goes into a social media strategy and are ready to invest their time and money into it, that’s when they should definitely consider hiring a social media professional. They should spend the time to find the person who is the right fit and aligns with their goals, but they should also be open to new approaches a social media professional might have for them.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Just simply being able to express myself. In an effort to not be too abstract, expressing oneself freely is one of life’s greatest pleasures. And being able to incorporate that into one’s work is a dream. Through self-expression and experimenting, we continue to discover new parts of ourselves and unlocking new levels of creativity. I think that’s one of the greatest gifts that we can give ourselves.

How did you build your audience on social media?

While my audience is small compared to others, I’m really proud of the engaged community that I’ve been able to build over time. I feel genuine connections with my audience, and I hope they feel the same with me. I credit my blog to being the main foundation when it came to creating an audience. By focusing on a specific niche (in my case, Philly-centric things), my blog was able to reach a specified audience which then turned into an audience on social media.

I’m a firm believer that any sort of content creator should have a website, mainly for the fact that we can’t control the platforms that we work on. A personal website allows you to have full control of your content, and can also serve as a portfolio of your work.

Another piece of advice is to engage with other content creators. Leave comments, share posts, and collaborate. Creating a community of fellow creatives will be one of your greatest assets.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://positivepublicityblog.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/milliephanatic/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/positivepublicityblog
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/camillemariemola/

Image Credits
First photo: Josh Marti Second photo: Aubrey Elizabeth