We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Melania Velasquez. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Melania below.

Alright, Melania thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you think folks should manage their own social media or hire a professional? What do you do?

I manage my own social media and I also manage other companies’ social media accounts. I do it because I have a professional background in digital marketing and I’ve been learning, practicing and growing professionally in that arena.

For other businesses, I would highly recommend doing what you can, but if there’s a learning curb, then keep in mind that you may stretch yourself thin. It’s okay to get help when you juggle a lot of things. And that’s the case for most business owner. If you want to attempt this on your own, this is my advice. Examine the type social media channel you need to have presence in to reach your target audience. Once you narrow it down, you can focus on creating content that resonates with that audience. Creating meaningful content will resonate with your audience. Address their concerns/ questions with meaningful content and valuable information. There’s a lot more that goes into having a full comprehensive digital marketing approach, but this is where I would recommend they start.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I started doing modeling in Upstate NY. I attended modeling training/coaching at Wilhelmina Models in Rochester, NY. After completing their training I was able to professionally attend casting calls, show up to the jobs, and take direction as needed. All in all it gave me a perspective of what it means to be serious about the job vs the ones that do not. I’m in commercial, print, and runway modeling. I help other creatives bring their vision to life with me as a vessel. Boutique owners, designers, photographers want to create compelling looks to captivate their audience, I’m just showcasing their art/ vision. As models we know it’s not about us personally, it’s about carrying that vision to the target audience. I believe keeping that in mind, is what sets professional models apart from the rest.
I’m proud of continuing to work and also create content of my own to help women find their style, or give them ideas of what to wear. I love fashion, I love media, I love filming, capturing images, and editing. Everything that I do is intentional.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Modeling in a small city such as Rochester, NY comes with its own set of challenges. The biggest one is that there’s not a lot of jobs for models. Majority of the jobs are in NYC. I learned that just modeling wasn’t going to be enough for me. I dived into Mass Communications and Media and obtained my Bachelor’s Degree in that industry. It was a great way for me to get started in a different career, but I found a way to bring the modeling and the marketing together. I can do both professionally and I’m extremely proud of that.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I started posting content and I learned as I went. Doing keyword research plays a role into the written portion of the content. As you continue to create content you analyze the metrics/insights. How are people engaging with the content? When you narrow down what content resonates most with your audience, then you have a pillar of content to build off of. That’s your indicator to replicate that idea over and over. Find ways to apply that idea or approach to other topics. Find collaborative spaces in your industry and network with other professionals. You can learn a lot from others and those people can benefit from knowing you. That would be my advice.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://melania.my.canva.site/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/melaniavmodel?igshid=M2RkZGJiMzhjOQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MelaniaVelasquezEchevarria?mibextid=PzaGJu

Image Credits
@JadaPhotography @shuttercraft_photography @amadorivas_photographer @fromjane2u @fromjane2u