Social media is a new and ever-growing marketing and communication tool in media and business, but it brings with it a challenge that is far from new — how to get others to follow you. For a certain group of web fashion gurus living in San Diego, however, this is no challenge. Mahal Style, a website and social media network that calls itself “the social culture for fashion,” has nearly 50,000 followers on Facebook and so much interaction with followers that you’d think there was an entire office of social media experts running the site. ‘Tis not the case. Mahal’s five ­member crew — most of whom have full-time day jobs on the side — have created a successful online fashion movement from their own living rooms or local coffee shops, and they will be holding a free seminar on Saturday, July 30 at the La Jolla Fashion Film Festival to share how they turned their passion for fashion into an internationally-followed style hub. “People just want to follow us because we are really innovative and nobody is doing what we are doing,” said Nicole Quiroz, the site’s editor-in-chief. “The more we post and the more articles we pump out, the more followers we get. People can easily ‘unlike’ us with the click of a button, but our followers stay loyal.” The Mahal Style team is made up of two married couples — Mark and Kiki Smith and Minh and Rochelle Huynh — as well as Quiroz and videographer Tommy Truong. Mark and Kiki met while in school at UC San Diego, both graduating with bachelor’s degrees in visual arts. Minh, a self-taught photographer, and Rochelle, a hair and makeup artist, founded the site based on their shared adoration for the industry. Mahal — which means “love” in several asian languages — started in 2009 as mainly a fashion photography website and built a large following on Flickr. By responding to every comment on every photo (something team members still do to this day) Mahal Style formed a personal connection with its fans, enticing more and more people to follow the team’s posts on tips, tricks, trends and more. Mahal Style has grown from a photo-only website to a gallery of videos, articles, interviews and photos that takes on what Quiroz describes as a “reverse model” from many fashion websites. “In fashion marketing and media, it’s all about people telling you what to wear,” said Quiroz. “For us, it’s different. You tell us what your style is and we communicate.” Mahal Style is a product of the team’s passion and energy — a “labor of love,” said Quiroz — and much of their fan loyalty springs from common ground and shared goals. “We’re all on the same boat and have the same dream and we project our positivity to our fans,” Quiroz said. Minh Huynh, director of photography, explains the site’s energy and popularity as “infectious.” “Infectious in a positive way,” he said. “Like a smile.”