TFS#210 - Fiona Wang Grew to 150k+ Followers, Leveraging It To Build Her Agency & Other Businesses

THE FLIP SIDE with Andy Mai

Fiona Wang, founder of Candidco.au, helps businesses grow online through content and social media strategies. With a background in business and media, she’s built multiple ventures, including a Bearbrick painting business and an upcoming dessert café in Bali, focusing on authenticity, consistency, and creativity.

www.instagram.com/heyfionawang

www.tiktok.com/@heyfionawang

www.youtube.com/@heyfionawang

0:00 - Introduction

1:00 - Meet Fiona Wang

2:01 - Why Bali is a perfect place for foreign investment

3:06 - How Fiona quit her job to pursue entrepreneurship

3:49 - How she started her Bearbrick painting business

5:52 - Andy on meeting Fiona learns about her agency

7:53 - Helping businesses build online brands

9:24 - The challenges of mixing business and friendship

12:47 - Fiona on generating leads from her social media following

14:25 - What her agency’s sales process looks like

16:12 - How being flexible with clients' needs leads to a 65-70% close rate

17:53 - How she manages all her businesses

22:04 - How she learned to handle all the business aspects

24:00 - Her experience working with and collaborating with entrepreneurs and influencers in Sydney

27:22 - Fiona's journey in launching her dessert cafe in Bali

29:38 - Building businesses from scratch vs. raising funds

31:11 - Using time-blocking to manage workloads

32:49 - How she got into the content creation space

36:11 - Growing her first 15k followers by creating food content during lockdown

38:06 - How she creates and builds backlogs of content for her social media posts

39:19 - Tips for planning and structuring content

40:43 - Why unique formats matter in content creation

44:04 - How she came up with the idea of building an agency that helps businesses establish their online brands

45:25 - How her agency creates content for their clients

46:40 - Why influencers often earn more than agencies

47:37 - People as her agency’s biggest expense

48:40 - Difference between her social media agency and a management agency

50:27 - How they would build UGC content for a tooth whitening brand

55:17 - Hiring in-house influencers vs. hiring an agency to help you grow your social media

57:22 - Why content creation isn’t full-time for most

1:02:11 - How being authentic and consistent on social media allows you to stand out

1:04:38 - How using her own voice and personality allows her to connect with her viewers

1:06:31 - Fiona on why emotion-driven content resonates with viewers

1:12:32 - Importance of brand consistency and authenticity

1:15:10 - How every personality can find an audience as a content creator

1:16:56 - Being shy when recognized in public

1:20:32 - Personality differences with her sister

1:22:11 - Why he doesn't want to post stories live

1:22:52 - Fiona's socializing strategy when going to a party

1:24:53 - How she came up with the idea for her dessert café in Bali

1:28:44 - Losing $10k on her first venture

1:30:53 - Bali vs. Sydney vibes

1:32:47 - How she discovered the local culture of Bali

1:33:38 - Fiona reveals her outbound message to get free accommodation while traveling

1:34:50 - How studying a double degree in business and media helped her build her agency

1:36:17 - Focus over the past six months

1:37:08 - Flexible hours for Fluid employees

1:38:06 - Hiring through Instagram stories

1:42:00 - Paying employees per project

1:43:02 - Doing quality control and finding new clients for Candidco.au

1:44:34 - Adding 1-hour breaks into her routine

1:50:51 - 1 hour of doing nothing vs. 1 hour on an afternoon walk or working out

1:52:17 - Sheduling her 1-hour "doing nothing" routine

1:53:45 - Goals for the next six months

1:55:15 - Fiona on the girl boss movement and advocating for femininity

1:56:42 - How Fiona wants to make money and give back to children

2:00:37 - Andy’s story about chatting with someone who doesn’t want kids

2:01:36 - Fiona on handling mean comments on her socials

2:02:24 - Fiona’s take on Trump’s presidency

2:04:38 - Connect with Fiona Wang

2:04:49 - Outro