Success Story: How to Get 1.5 Million Fans on Facebook

Sunday, 4:25 pm. 25 minutes ago Ciara Molina – one of the most popular Webnode webmasters on Facebook- published an image with a quote from M. De Unamuno, “He who believes in himself, does not need others to believe in him.” In 27 minutes the image got 1750 likes, 12 comments and was shared by 806 people. If you wonder “Who is Ciara and why has she enjoyed such huge success on Facebook?”, you shouldn’t miss this interview.

Ciara Molina is a multifaceted emotional psychologist. Not only is she able to conduct successful therapy sessions in several countries at the same time, or write books for major publishers such as Grupo Planeta and articles for magazines such as Cosmopolitan and La Vanguardia. Ciara is a PRO in the world of online marketing. With her website – Psicologa Emocional – as well as social media, her story has become a Success Story at Webnode.

Congratulations, Ciara, your book is out. Tell us a little about it.

The title of the book is Emociones Expresadas, Emociones Superadas (Emotions Expressed, Emotions Overcome) and it’s a guide to emotional management about how to know, accept and value ourselves as we are. The book contains many practical tips to help us manage issues like anxiety, stress, toxic relationships, etc.

With such an impressive presence on social networks, have you ever studied how to work with them before?

I started out like anyone else – sharing photos with friends, contacting people I don’t see much, etc. Seeing what works and what doesn’t, but not for any psychological or marketing purposes. However, the networks were not so appealing to use every day, so it occurred to me to try to approach psychology in a more creative way. I had a difficult personal moment and subsequently, found Emotional Psychologist to be a way to help myself and others.

It took a while to get started, new things create some concern, but slowly as fans started talking to me every day on Facebook, their fears were dissolving. People really enjoyed the posts, claiming it was like having a psychologist at home, until the point that they were demanding online therapy sessions.

What differences do you see between multimedia and printed media?

Multimedia has a greater impact and more dynamism. Daily interaction creates a climate of trust between patient and psychologist that otherwise would not be possible before a personal consultation. Far from being a cold medium, in terms of emotional management, it encourages expression and thereby helps to release tension. It also creates changing material that develops more rapidly, and so doesn’t turn monotonous.

Emotional Psychologist in 3 years has become a virtual consultation with therapeutic sessions through three means (mail, chat and video conferencing) and free publications where everyone can interact every day with comments. It is now a community where people help each other, and something that gratifies me to a great extent.

What advantages do you think cyberspace has for your therapy sessions?

It helps you reach everybody. I have had patients in New Zealand, Japan, Austria, Mexico or the U.S. People who would not be able to attend if not for being online. It gives everyone more flexible hours and I can work from home. What makes it more comfortable is that people can be more open emotionally.

Do social networks require daily attention or do you just create a profile and it’s all done?

Dedication, as in any other job. We can not expect to have many users by simply republishing stuff. You have to interact with people, see what they need, try to offer solutions. What creates closeness is that people see that there’s someone behind answering questions.

I love your posts because you really connect with followers. Where do you find inspiration to create daily content?

I work day after day on artwork, songs, videos, stories, articles, etc., depending on what I’m feeling at that moment. It’s just like a connection with myself that makes me post one thing or another.

What do you want to bring to your community?

Emotional health and inner peace. I wish people would learn to connect with themselves and find peace amid the storm. A calm mind always achieves emotional balance and with it all pieces of the puzzle fall into place.

Besides having a huge community on Facebook and Twitter, what do you do to gain more traffic to your website?

Nothing to win visits to my site. People come to the site because they were looking for me or because they like the way I work in psychology. I’ve never advertised my services or my online profiles, I’ve been found through word of mouth or users actively seeking me out. I have not focused on a business, but finally it has become my way of life, and I’ll keep doing things by intuition and always believing it will help others.

What is your “hub”, social networks or your website?

In my case it is a combination of both. Working every day on Facebook gives me a direct contact with the users and you can make a much more dynamic emotional prevention. Social networks allow me to link to web content in a more simple manner and the information therefore, has a bigger impact, so they are the perfect couple for working online in emotional management.

What’s your experience being a webmaster? Do you often check your statistics?

My experience as a Webmaster has been pleasant and easy. Today there are many easy tools that let you access the virtual world without any problem. Having a business online opens many doors, so I encourage everyone to at least try. If you want me to tell you the truth, I never look at the statistics (laughs). I dedicate myself to work every day like I feel I should, without worrying too much about how many people come or not. If only one person visits my site, I’m happy. The purpose of Emotional Psychologist was never to consider it as a business but as a source of help.

Given your experience, what is the future of social networks and websites for small businesses?

I think they will be essential, and can help you better know the product or service that people are selling. Now this will be beneficial as long as there is a direct interaction with potential customers, because if not, it becomes a mere advertising board. Yes, you reach many people, but in reality you would not be getting the true advantage to social media: social interaction.

They say that social networks cause loneliness, which is a bit strange given its communication advantages. What is your opinion?

Well, I don’t quite agree with this statement for several reasons. Loneliness itself is a state of inner peace, so it is necessary for humans. Another thing is desolation, which can be felt even by just being around people. But this is not caused by social networks, but by the decisions the person takes. If that person decides to become socially isolated in a physical way, is not the fault of the social network, but it’s their own decision about how they want to interact with others.

On the other hand, for many people, it is a tool that helps them communicate and meet people. In fact, on my page, groups of friends have formed, who have even met up for a drink later and were joined in a common experience.

Do you remember any nice anecdote that you experienced online?

Oh! I’ve had many! What still brings me to tears is some letters I received from people who follow the page. Thanks to one of them, at a time when I doubted whether or not to go ahead with the project, they helped push Psychologist Emotional to go forward, but this is something I speak about in the book and I won’t reveal just yet (laughs).

We are very grateful to Ciara for having shared her story with us. Our team sends you an emotional super hug.

Does your website and Facebook page complement each other? Share your experience with us. Wondering how to create a website? Check the step-by-step guide.