Instagram Influencer Spotlight On: Yunzi @joysofyz

1) Tell us a little about yourself. What are you doing now and where do you come from?

Hi I’m Yunzi, the blogger at "Joysofyz | Yunzi’s Budget Story" and an active Instagrammer at @joysofyz. I am a final year undergraduate in NTU and I will be graduating in July #yayToNoExams! I come from KL, Malaysia but I am based in Singapore since 4 years ago (sorry KL, I really prefer Singapore tho…).

2) What are your topics of interest? What do you post on Instagram the most?

Basically I can sum up that I blog and instagram about budget deals. I love blogging about beauty reviews because I just love trying out new (ehem, cheap) products, especially skincare products to see if they are suitable for my sensitive and acne-prone skin. Since I am an extremely budget Taurus who love photography, thus I tend to capture more food photos on Instagram, occasionally featuring my dog and my life too!
*You know, hire models for photoshoot need money. Ask people photo me they say I’m not pretty enough to enter the scene :(((( Sad right… HAIZ*

3) How did your Instagram name come about?

Joysofyz doesn’t mean that my name is Joy. I am Yunzi, no Christian name (but if everyone still think I’m Joy, I don’t mind making Joy as my Christian name LOL). Joysofyz stands for "Joys of Yunzi". I am always a happy-go-lucky person who is bubbly and joyful…… online. Ok lah, as in not just online. I just tend to voice my opinions more outwardly online and you can judge me if you like (but you can’t, because you don’t meet me in real-life!)!

4) What are some apps you use to edit your photos? Share with us your photo-editing routine!

I used to use VSCO and even paid like USD$1.80 (I think?) to purchase their S2 filter. However, with my lousy Samsung Note 5 photography skills, the quality of the image is already bad enough to not be further pixelated by VCSO (If you are interested, I used to use S2, A6 and H1 the most). Thus, I have since then moved on to Snapseed instead. Based on mood, sometimes I use Photoshop Express app too (thank me guys, I know many don’t know about this app!) My editing routine will be: Select an app based on mood -> choose a filter (normally I just use my own custom filter saved in Photoshop, Snapseed use "brush" feature manually) -> make slight adjustments in clarity, sharpness and contrast -> make MAJOR adjustments in brightness, crop ratio and saturation (I think I did mentioned that my photography skills suck) -> export to Instagram -> minor adjustments using IG filters (I use anything that I think suits my images) -> caption and done! A LOT OF WORK RIGHTTTTT, but probably half of those IGers with extremely consistent photos.

5) Any Instagrammers whom you really like? Which Instagrammer inspires you the most?

Used to be only @brenwho when I started joining Instagram in 2015. My latest top favourites will be: @mrhellofai for creative photography, @speishi for her natural beauty, fashion and makeup, @chloeandchoo for her humour, directness, beauty, fashion, makeup and body goal, @justinfootprints for his food photography, and more than 100 Instagrammers from Western countries and Malaysia for their brush-lettering skills! (Did I mentioned I got a leisure art account: @joysofscribbles?? Go join me if you are a letterer!)

6) If there’s one thing your fellow Instagrammers just gotta try now, what’s it gonna be?

Just post and be yourself! Ok, not just post. I tried that and it doesn’t work that way if the image quality is too bad. So, I rephrase — Upgrade your photography skills (in my case, editing skills)! You do not need a good camera for Instagram (I have a dslr dedicated for part-time jobs, but I only use my phone or point and shoot for my Instagram and blog), but you do need a bit of trick to make your photos a bit nicer for people to notice your 1 image among 1000000000 photos per day (if your friends just HATE your photos, like mine TT_TT). But most importantly, do it for fun. It might or might not pay off someday!

7) What’s your favorite part about being an influencer?

I don’t really consider myself an influencer. I mean, I always hear that people say influencers must be over 5k+ followers (I don’t know why, but I am pretty happy with my engagement rate now lol). Anyway, I like that I tend to get emails, Facebook messages or comments by my readers / followers / stalkers who chance upon my profile, which means that what I am currently doing are not in vain — at least someone out there appreciates my effort right?! Oh, another thing will be I love the connections that I can build with some "bigger" influencers and get to know each other (virtually) even when we are residing at the different end of the world.

8) What are some of your top tips to brands for running campaigns? How do you maintain authenticity?

Really, do check for engagement rate instead of just follower counts. There are many people buying / getting bot accounts which will not help in your campaigns.

9) What would your advice be on the importance of quality and original content?

Be yourself, that’s all I can say. I am not afraid to try, and fail. But I am afraid to not try and not even get to fail (or success). So, don’t fake a personality of another person (I have dual characters by the way, active or formal, depending on my mood when I blog), it will be so tiring and you won’t enjoy it! Moreover, what if the original content curator finds out about it? Can sue you leh if the person wants!

10) What do you like best about partnering with brands?

I get to test out a product which might become something I want to use in the future. Also, I get the chance to use my brain on how I should present the given product to my audience, creatively. No, this doesn’t mean that I hard sell what I don’t believe in. I give honest opinions after testing, but I prefer my image curation a.k.a photography to be more interesting (unless I have a deadline to meet).

Topics:

• Animals & Pets
• Art
• Design
• Fashion
• Food & Drink
• Hair & Beauty
• Health & Fitness
• Photography
• Technology
• Travel

Country:

Singapore