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I’m no professional. I am an ambitious girl in her twenties taking photos of the things I see, the music I like, the food I eat, the places I go, and the clothes I wear. And some of you people like it. Why? I have no idea. But I keep it going because 1) I’ve made some awesome friends and 2) I like to share my interests with others.
I inspire to inspire others, I suppose.
I wanted to put together a quick little list for anybody running an Instagram/website, whether it’s for blogging purposes or photography purposes or business purposes or just ’cause. Feel free to share any extra feedback below in the comments, and tag me in your posts if you ever do something that was inspired by my weird self!!! I enjoy interacting with you all and love when other bloggers share their thoughts.
1. Patience! If you’re just starting out with a brand new Instagram, or maybe it’s only been a few months since you started a blog-related Instagram, you must have patience. Growing a following base takes a very long time. Don’t buy followers and don’t use any sort of apps that will give you likes and comments. This will only alter the validity of your account and ultimately lessen the engagement on your account. Just be patient and enjoy watching your page grow! It can sometimes be a painfully slow process – trust me. But if you want something badly then you have to work for it.
2. Engage with everybody. One lesson I learned very late in the game is the importance of engagement. Comment on other blogger’s accounts! Thank the people who complimented you on your post. Answer people’s direct messages. Join in on conversations. This will allow you to meet new people, make friends, and grow your own following by getting your name out there! Also, it’s just nice to thank people who take the time to comment on your posts. 🙂 Also, do not unfollow people who you just followed! The idea of #follow4follow is silly. Follow accounts that you like. If a blogger finds you and you like their look, follow them back and make friends!
3. Post consistently. This is easily the hardest part of running an Instagram, right next to having a theme (I’ll discuss later). I use a planning app called Preview but there are many examples of planning apps in the app store. The minute I finish editing a batch of photos, I dump them in the planning app and preview exactly how I want my feed to look.
4. Find a theme that fits your personality. Find a filter and stick to it. Create your own preset and stick to it. (Want another post about Lightroom/VSCO/and presets? Or how I edit my photos? Let me know!). When someone clicks on your Instagram feed – or your blog – their first impression is what they visually glance over in half a second. If your feed looks mismatched, they will click off much quicker than if the colors of your feed flowed together a bit more! Experiment with colors and find what suits your personality best.
5. Explore tags and hashtags. I tag any brand that I’m wearing in the photos that I post. This will allow my photo to show up on their account’s tagged photos and *hopefully* gain me some exposure. I also will head over to a brand’s website before posting to see if there are any relevant hashtags I could be using to join in on a conversation. All of these little steps can also potentially allow brands to repost your photo on their own page – SCORE!
6. Push out content your fans will want but also stays true to your values. Everybody hits writer’s block, even writers. Hence where the name came from. My best advice for keeping your blog fresh is this: The MINUTE you come up with an idea, write it down. I will make a draft post on my phone with a title and a few points jotted down. That way when I have time to sit down and write, I have a few of my ideas saved. My mind travels a thousand miles a second throughout the day and ideas are sparked randomly. So if I don’t write anything down then I will forget. Also, only write content that you’re proud of and would stand behind. Don’t just write a blog post to write a blog post, you know? Do you!
7. Find something that will set you apart. Maybe you love to share your vegan meals with people or maybe you mix in graphics and quotes within your feed. Do something that makes your feed different than the person’s next to you. I like to share my serious side on my Instagram feed and my true sarcastic personality on my Instagram stories. It was a risk for me at first — I was worried that my followers would be like “what the heck is this Sarah?” but the feedback was all positive. Be yourself if it sets you apart!
8. Be kind to others. It may sound cliche, but that’s the motto I have on life. Yeah I can be sarcastic and give the people I love a hard time, but the bottom line is to be kind and caring to all people. Because you may not know their story! It’s easy to be harsh to people through a computer screen or a phone screen. Always be kind to the people you meet on your blogging journey, you never know where it can lead you.
I hope this helped you! Let me know if you would like to see more in this Insta/blogger series such as how I edit my photos or how I organize my Highlights, etc.!
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