\n Thursday January 30, 2025 <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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<\/div>\nDid you know Japanese seaweed (AKA wakame) is one of nature\u2019s most powerful health ingredients? Darcy Recio, Founder of Wakame Girl, harnessed these powers to create tasty wakame salad recipes sold by the jar. Available in Original or Spicy flavors, these jars, packed with goodness and passion, were once delivered in person, by Darcy, on her bike. Today, there are too many orders for her to keep the business moving by bike so she sells her popular products at local markets and through her website powered by Hostinger.<\/p>\n
We caught up with Darcy to chat about how the brand was born, her ambitions for the future, and what makes this her most successful business venture yet. We also discover how Hostinger\u2019s products and features, including Hosting for WordPress<\/a>, are some of the key ingredients in Wakame Girl\u2019s recipe for online success.\u00a0<\/p>\n When I moved out of my parents\u2019 house, I saw this little store that sold wakame, the main ingredient of my salads. I knew I loved it because it\u2019s in Japanese restaurants but it looked a little bit different in its packaging. So, I researched it and I thought, \u2018Okay, maybe I can try cooking it\u2019. The first time I tried, it didn\u2019t taste good at all because I didn\u2019t know what I was doing but then I asked my mom, who\u2019s an amazing cook, for advice and I went from there.<\/p>\n At the time it wasn\u2019t really a business idea but I thought, \u2018What if I could make this into something?\u2019. The first idea I had was Wakame Girl\u2014not the most creative but I think it speaks to the local markets because it\u2019s very clear and simple. Some people don\u2019t know what wakame is, so I just thought, \u2018Okay, let\u2019s make a website\u2019. I\u2019ve made a website before, albeit very very bare, so, let\u2019s just do it. I work in marketing full-time, so I started using what I know and learning a bit about the basics of HTML.<\/p>\n Now, I mostly use wakamegirl.com<\/a> for sales and marketing. Specifically, I\u2019m using the site to empower an experience with buyers who prefer less contact. I use it to enable credit and debit card payments for those who want more security, and it helps me build a place where I can direct all traffic looking for more info on me and my business\u2014sort of like a portfolio but for wakame.\u00a0<\/p>\n I thought having a domain would give Wakame Girl more credibility than others might not have. Startups here in the Philippines don\u2019t really have websites and I thought maybe that could make me stand out and give me more leverage because, at the end of the day, it\u2019s also a skill. There are other platforms I could sell on, like Lazada and Shopee, but right now, I don\u2019t want to spread myself too thin\u2014I just want to focus on social media and my website. That way, I can see everything much easier in terms of process.\u00a0<\/p>\n A lot of local businesses here don\u2019t have websites. Nobody wants to invest because they don\u2019t believe in the power of a website enough to allocate their funds to it. However, I believe my website brings Wakame Girl more credibility and personality. I\u2019m just barely scratching the surface of my vision for it but already I can showcase an overview of how it all started for me. I can also show return and new buyers that all orders are handled with love and care, food safety and nutrition are respected, and of course, showcase my product.\u00a0<\/p>\n I\u2019m very proud of my products and sharing them with other wakame-lovers makes me so incredibly happy and grateful. It makes all the product testing, creativity with ads, and even biking to deliver products all worth it. Having a website also allows me to connect with people who also love wakame as a snack or side dish for their poke bowls, grilled food, etc.<\/p>\n Yes, I created my website myself. I started with some templates, but then I started making it my own. I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d get sales through the website, to be honest, because when I think about how myself and other people shop here in the Philippines, it\u2019s usually the Amazon equivalent\u2014Lazada and Shopee. I just thought it would be a place where I could document things that are not on my social media.<\/p>\n However, I realized that the website was a place where I could customize the journey of the people visiting. I could create landing pages for specific products. I could give people more insight into the business. When it\u2019s just on my social media, it\u2019s just post after post. The website provides a different kind of engagement. Social media is where we engage more and then the website is more about people who want to learn more. Out of all the business ventures I\u2019ve tried, this is the one that actually has sales, even through the website, so it\u2019s just amazing.\u00a0<\/p>\n I think it took off because it\u2019s very niche; not a lot of people know what wakame is, so there\u2019s a curiosity there. People are like, \u2018What is that? It looks like pickles, but they\u2019re not cucumbers\u2019. So, there\u2019s interest around it and I was able to tap into that. Plus, I\u2019m the only business in the Philippines selling this product cooked, which has led to more momentum and motivation.\u00a0<\/p>\n I saw Hostinger on Reddit and on Google. I\u2019m not too unfamiliar with it because I had clients before who had other hosts but I started going down a rabbit hole reading about Hostinger. It seemed like it might be the best option for my needs. So far, I\u2019m happy with it and it\u2019s pretty intuitive. Because I was setting it up on my own, I wanted something that would give me a walk-through without having to talk to anyone. I\u2019m a big introvert, so seeing all the resources already out there on how to do things on the Hostinger platform helped me a lot.<\/p>\n Setting up my site was genuinely a breeze with Hostinger. I\u2019ve always been somewhat techy but never had any formal training in IT or web development. Hostinger\u2019s different guides helped me understand and want to learn more about the nuances of building a site. How to set up email with a domain, setting up https and DNS, and understanding plugins\u2014I was able to set up all these backend things at the start because of the Hostinger Academy videos, written tutorials, guides, etc.<\/p>\n As for design, I\u2019m not very good with color, and I never knew what padding was before\u2014the small UI\/UX nuances were all a mystery to me. I\u2019ve made a website before that failed but with Hostinger\u2019s pricing plan, it was great that I could easily just add a new one when I got the business idea and had proof of concept. To this day, I\u2019m still learning a lot and Hostinger was and still is a huge help to my business throughout the journey.<\/p>\n There\u2019s so much I want to do with Wakame Girl and I have a lot of vision for my website.\u00a0 I\u2019m talking custom buyer journeys through landing pages connected to ads, testimonials in real time, a comprehensive nutritional guide for wakame flavors, and much more. I see Wakame Girl going nationwide because right now, there\u2019s not really any other competitor. In fact, last time I checked, I\u2019m the only brand in my country that sells wakame.<\/p>\n I want to scale it and come up with a system for the fulfillment and production of the product. My dream is to be able to quit my 9-to-5 job and work 24\/7 on my business. I have new flavors in mind but you have to do the research with each product and have people taste it before you release a new type of flavor. Then, if it really takes off, I could venture into different side dishes. So yeah, I have a lot of vision for the future of my business and I wouldn\u2019t be able to achieve it without my website.<\/p>\n Visit wakamegirl.com<\/a> to learn more about Darcy\u2019s story and her delicious salads. Visit our Hosting for WordPress<\/a> page to explore how our tools can help you get your own taste of online success.<\/em><\/p>\n \n Steph is a Senior Copywriter with a background in growth marketing, creative campaigns, content marketing and brand voice building. In her spare time, she enjoys writing bar and restaurant reviews for local food and drink platforms. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Thursday January 30, 2025 Did you know Japanese seaweed (AKA wakame) is one of nature\u2019s most powerful health ingredients? Darcy Recio, Founder of Wakame Girl, harnessed these powers to create tasty wakame salad recipes sold by the jar. Available in Original or Spicy flavors, these jars, packed with goodness and passion, were once delivered in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":63756,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[34779,11260,8232],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-63755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-internet-business","tag-seaweedselling","tag-success","tag-taste"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/lh7-qw.googleusercontent.com\/docsz\/AD_4nXfdW2Mk602kB80vvUMFYDng-CLO1Ztj2PngWD2o3VYMdsxAllQItLDbKMB3wsf5rzgHLNAHeLU9vHsPdsdX3jWWpVImoBdJ9AyTFiwmk6yHo8reqTopEAq5SgVVKKAAg0rA62EM9Q?key=db8mDJ7vsV1R_3v5Oaz9ccut\")
How did Wakame Girl come to life?<\/h2>\n
Why did you decide Wakame Girl needed a website?<\/h2>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/lh7-qw.googleusercontent.com\/docsz\/AD_4nXelJzM0m9fMOn3hIqBWfhU12bn6LJuU6_1TkTo-sbQimr795w99sG-09DuJajuswE5msS879hrdvvUzeXJECb6SQO4jEL35pzn4Ar0wyTMDHdiq29-OWQ8O_nlHtrgQPYIV9jAt_w?key=db8mDJ7vsV1R_3v5Oaz9ccut\")
Did you build your website yourself?<\/h2>\n
What do you think makes Wakame Girl uniquely successful?<\/h2>\n
So, how did you find Hostinger?<\/h2>\n
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<\/a><\/figure>\nHow would you describe your experience with Hostinger?<\/h2>\n
What does the future hold for Wakame Girl?<\/h2>\n
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\n <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/lh7-qw.googleusercontent.com\/docsz\/AD_4nXfdW2Mk602kB80vvUMFYDng-CLO1Ztj2PngWD2o3VYMdsxAllQItLDbKMB3wsf5rzgHLNAHeLU9vHsPdsdX3jWWpVImoBdJ9AyTFiwmk6yHo8reqTopEAq5SgVVKKAAg0rA62EM9Q?key=db8mDJ7vsV1R_3v5Oaz9ccut\"\/)
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