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instagram hiding likes instagram removing likes

Instagram Hiding Likes —Instagram Removing Likes in the USA, TRUTH EXPOSED

 

Instagram just released that they’re going to be hiding likes across US-based accounts moving forward. They claim it’s for mental health reasons, and I want to call a total B.S move on this. In this video, I’m going to show you the seven reasons why I think Instagram is hiding likes and we’re probably going to hate them for it.

 

As Adam Mosseri head of Instagram put it:

 

So right now we’re testing making like counts private, so you’ll be able to see how many people liked a given photo of yours or video of yours, but no one else will. We’re actually announcing that we’re going to start testing in the US next week. 

 

It’s about young people. The idea is to try and depressurize Instagram, make it less of a competition. Likes are great. They’re a lightweight form of feedback, but they can make the experience feel a bit tense. They can pressurize Instagram, and we want to depressurize it.

 

1. The Real Reason Instagram is Removing Likes…Money

Instagram wants to drive a ton of profit and traffic over to their Instagram advertising platform. Essentially, we’ve been using Instagram for years for free. We’ve developed habits and patterns to use the app. A crazy statistic is that the average Instagram user checks their phone 150 times a day. Instagram waited until it was at its peak, which has put Instagram in a fantastic position to begin changing the amount of reach they give your pages so that you can begin to transition over to using their advertising platform. Most social medias follow this particular method. They give the traffic all for free upfront and then they begin to encourage you to advertise. Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Twitter have done similar tactics. 

 

2. Instagram is Hiding Likes to Squeeze Influencers and Advertisers

Instagram wants a slice of the cash pie that influencers have been benefiting from for years

 

As Joe Rogan Said:

 

But if you were Instagram, right, and you had people making tons of money off of your platform just by posting things and they don’t even get a piece of that, they’ve got to be like, “Hey, what are we doing? We’re spending $1 million a month in bandwidth.”

 

Influencers are continually making so much money on Instagram without giving Instagram any of that, so it does make sense that one of the consequences of Instagram removing likes is that brands actually may be further incentivized to use the advertising platform rather than giving the money to influencer partnerships. Engagement on Instagram has steadily decreased as the newness of the app wears off. 

 

3. Instagram is hiding likes to protect the premium reputation that they have as a brand

 

For example, do you remember that Snapchat was actually known for inflating their numbers? They used to inflate their views and the number of users that were actually present on the app, and they were able to do this because they didn’t show likes and they didn’t show followers. The views were not public information but were strictly private for the influencers and for users. They did this to appeal to more investors and make themselves look like a larger brand than they actually were. This way, the steady decline in engagement won’t be public-facing. They can just continue to hype up their app showing that their numbers and engagement are high.

 

4. Instagram is looking to remove competition

 

The number of likes that show up on photos and posts show large, overarching trends. The more likes a post, photo or style of content has, the more trendy it is. It is highly beneficial for us to be able to see those metrics. We can see the market trends to know what sort of is going to perform for us. Removing the likes, other people, other companies won’t be able to monitor these trends.

 

5. Instagram is hiding likes to de-incentivize any user gamification

 

This will create what I would call a level playing field for the Instagram algorithm to be able to monitor real engagement and real trends without the interference of bots and fake engagement. The bar for content creation is going to be so high, the algorithm or AI is going to get increasingly more accurate to know what sorts of content will perform well and what won’t. The game of building a following and audience and increasing engagement on Instagram will become increasingly more difficult.

 

6. Instagram is looking to retain its users in Generation Z

 

Recently, Gen Z has begun to express distrust towards Instagram and how the competitive nature of the app makes them feel on an internal basis in their psychology. Instagram’s CEO mentioned that the company had pulled many, many people in Gen Z in order to understand what they were looking for from the app. As TikTok escalates in popularity in the teen and young adult market, it makes sense that Instagram will be removing likes to meet the preferences for the experience that Generation Z prefers.

 

7. What Instagram Won’t Tell You

Lastly, I may be really controversial in saying this, but here is the truth about why Instagram is really removing likes. Contrary to popular belief, Instagram is not just a business connecting people and sharing photos. Like Facebook, Instagram is in the business of collecting and hoarding the data of its users and psychological behaviors. Do you remember when Facebook was doing psychological experiments on 700,000 users without their consent in 2014?

 

The media reported on this:

Facebook secretly conducted a massive psychological experiment and manipulated the incoming content for a week without telling them. It was designed to see how people’s attitudes were affected when they read either a stream of more positive posts or more negative ones in their so-called news feeds.

 

The algorithms these platforms depend on deliberately amplify the type of content that keeps users engaged, stories that appeal to our baser instincts and that trigger outrage and fear.

 

By removing and hiding likes, making them not public, but private, Instagram and its partner Facebook will be able to see all of the real true motivation behind human behavior and consumption on these apps. I truly believe that that is the information that Instagram and Facebook are seeking. What do we do behind closed doors? When no one’s looking, how do we respond to content? How do we interact with the app?

 

Both the Instagram and Facebook algorithms will likely be some of the best AI out there to predict human behavior on both an individual level and on a mass level. This is simultaneously amazing and scary AF. The bigger issue is we have no idea what they’re going to be doing with all of this information they’re amassing through the years to come. I’m not saying to go run and hide under a rock. I love Instagram and I’ve created a great business on it. I’m just saying it’s really important to the backing foundation of what these businesses are doing and to not be naive to think that it’s just about sharing photos and connecting with friends.

 

The Truth On Mental Health

My question to you is, what does Instagram stand to gain that perhaps we don’t want to lose? We should never rely on big mass corporations to take care of our mental health. Mental health is a constant process of awareness that requires us to create boundaries with how we interact with social media. It involves taking daily steps to build up our confidence and self-worth based on internal feelings of happiness, joy and purpose and less about followers, likes, and comments. I’m really curious to hear what you think of all of this, if you hate it, if you think it’s crazy and I’m a conspiracy theorist or if this has provoked you to think differently about how Instagram works and runs as a business. I think this is a really fantastic conversation that we all need to have to understand how we interact with it.

 

I would love to hear your thoughts on this matter. Leave a comment

 

I also have a video training where I will teach you how I grew my Instagram profile from 500 to the first 12,000 followers in under a year. Go to https://emelinaspinelli.com/instagram-training/

How to Stay Motivated, Hungry & Driven No Matter What (With Tested Methods from Real Entrepreneurs)

how to stay hungry and driven no matter what

Motivation is a common topic brought up frequently with entrepreneurs or anyone else that’s looking to do anything worthwhile. One of the things I hear frequently is people say—is how tough it is to stay motivated.

 

I feel ya guys, and that’s why I’m writing this article. Motivation isn’t something I’ve struggled with too often. There’s a deep drive that I’ve had since I was a kid that I hope I can share to an extent where you can take it yourself and apply it to your life.

 

When times are tough, it can be challenging to stay motivated. It can look like your life is just collapsing all around you. These are tough times to be motivated. They’re also, ironically the easiest times to be motivated because you have nothing left to loose. If the only way is up, you can take it.

 

However, when times and circumstances are great—how do you stay motivated? It’s easy to loose your hunger and motivation when things are going well. Sometimes in great times, we become complacent.

 

When you’re doing well, you can stay motivated by consuming motivational content every day. This reminds you of where you were. Remind yourself of what you’ve been through and how you never want to go through it again (extreme poverty, homelessness, suicide, self worth issues, hating your life and more).

Remember to be and feel grateful for the experiences and the journey. If you remember, you’ll know that the only way out of the pain and suffering is to continually drive forward.

 

Success stems from a habit of being successful consistently. Life is a game of inches. At some point, you may get a break and have some great success! Just remember that it will only last if you’re being successful in your daily habits, and every inch consistently.

 

 

Audit Yourself to Find Your Motivation Habits

First, there are habits that we do on a daily basis that MOTIVATE us or that DEMOTIVATE us. It’s really important to audit your own personal habits. We all have unique strategies that we use to motivate or de-motivate ourselves—you may just be doing it unknowingly.

 

Next time your motivated or otherwise, ask yourself:

  • Why do I feel motivated?
  • What did I do immediately before this?
  • What habits did I implement today? How did they contribute to a feeling of motivation?

 

Motivation happens when you implement a specific formula that gets you revved up and motivated! This formula is a little different for everyone. If you start paying attention to your emotional states, and exercise a high level of awareness, you’ll begin to see that you do have a formula. Then you can start deconstructing this to find your source of motivation.

 

 

How do you become motivated on demand?

Implement the steps and strategy that you’ve outlined above (that motivate you) and you’ll receive a feeling of motivation. Everything has a cause-and-effect. If you take the steps proactively to feel motivated, you’ll naturally attract the state.

 

Once you know what gets you motivated—you can be motivated whenever you like! Just go through the steps that motivate you and voila!

 

 

 

Audit Yourself to Understand Your Demotivating Habits

Similarly to how you can produce a feeling of motivation on demand, you can do the same for feeling unmotivated. We have patterns for everything. If there are periods where you’re feeling unmotivated, you probably self-induced the feeling.

 

Next time your unmotivated or otherwise, ask yourself:

  • Why do I feel unmotivated?
  • What did I do immediately before this?
  • What habits did I implement today? How did they contribute to a feeling of demotivation?

 

Take a look at what you did immediately before feeling unmotivated and the habits you implemented throughout the day. All of this contributes to feeling that way. In fact—it’s your unique formula to feeling unmotivated. When you go through these actions and strategy, you’ll receive the feeling on being demotivated.

 

The solution? Know what motivates you and set those actions into motion on a daily basis. Remove your negative de-motivating habits. Be conscious of the negative habits when they pop up for you, and don’t engage with them.

 

Fill Up on Positive Motivational Material Daily

Here’s the no bull-shit scoop: motivation expires.

 

You can feel motivated for an hour, a day or a week. Either way, it’s going to expire.

 

If you were to take a shower on Sunday, would you expect the effects of the shower to last for the next 2 weeks? No. Let’s be really candid here—you’d stink. You probably would look disheveled too. From there, you would receive more judgements from others (because you smell and look disheveled) that would just increase you feeling like shit. Would you just stay in this state and not take a shower? Maybe you’d wait for the moment to strike where God provides you with a natural rain shower.

 

What if you could just walk in your bathroom and take a shower and achieve everything you were looking for (feeling clean)!?

 

Motivation is no different. If you don’t expect a shower to last you all week, don’t expect motivation to last all week. The feeling of being motivated comes from engaging in habits that cause you to feel this way on a daily basis.

 

Back to the question… so how do you feel motivated?

 

One of the best tactics I can give you to employ is to consume positive motivational daily content. I literally listen to motivational videos and audios every day for at least 30 minutes. Some days I listen to these audios 4-5 hours, and others for just 30 minutes.

 

My favorite videos to watch are on YouTube for Motivation. In fact, I actually rarely watch them. Most often I am listening to them while doing other things. I listen to 45 minutes of motivational videos every morning when I wake up at 5:30 am until when I leave at 6:15/6:30am. I have my earbuds in while I brush my teeth, do my makeup, get dressed and prepare my breakfast.

 

I usually long-board to Starbucks, a coffee shop or a co-working space. I listen to motivational videos while I’m long-boarding to my destination. By the time I’m ready to sit down and work, I’ve already consumed over an hour of motivation in the early morning.

 

I can say that when I engage in these daily habits, it makes it ridiculously easy to sit down and work my very hardest, most creative and best. I’ve already motivated myself for the entire day and am ready to take on any challenges or opportunities that arise. This is all possible because I’ve already pre-conditioned my mind in the morning to know that I can handle anything and everything to reach my desires.

 

 

Your mind is the most receptive to new habits and content in the morning.

In the morning, you have more access to your subconscious mind. This means that you can easily start to program positive behaviors and feelings into your subconscious mind by consuming positive content in the morning. Your subconscious will take in the information and mull over it all day while your performing conscious tasks. It’s like having programs running in the background on your computer making it faster and stronger.

 

 

Surround Yourself with Inspiring, Motivated People

I’ve had the absolute pleasure to call many people friends. I’ve never had a shortage of friends, but I will tell you that real great ones don’t come as often. Surround yourself with positive, inspiring, motivated people.

 

If you’re looking to be motivated and driven, the best thing you can do is surround yourself with people with these traits. They’ll rub right off on you! It doesn’t matter if they’re in different industries than you or the same. What matters is that they’re seeking to bust boundaries and be the top in their respective fields. It’s the drive and motivation that matter, and how they execute on the inspiration.

 

Here are just some of the lovely souls I can call friends that motivate and inspire me. They’ve each shared what motivates them to help you on your path to crushing it.

 

Amanda Rivera: Visibility & PR Coach, Millennial Thought Leader’s Mastermind Facebook Group Host

Amanda is an incredibly driven entrepreneur from the east coast. She’s constantly re-inventing herself to provide the market with more value and be of more service to as many people as she can.

 

Amanda has overcome adversity to create a powerful version of herself that runs a spiritually-based business to coach entrepreneurs, coaches and thought leaders to be more visible and garner more PR opportunities.

 

“When I’m feeling burnt out or struggling to write, it’s a sign that I need to do a mini digital detox and go on a long nature walk to get fresh air and get new inspiration. It keeps me grounded and helps me stay mindful.”

 

Amanda said that in tougher times, she’s motivated by being of service. “Whenever I feel like I’m going through a tough time, I find someone else who is going through a tough time and help them out. And it can even just be as simple as holding space for them and giving them a gentle and supportive listening ear. Sometimes all we really need is to feel heard and understood by someone else.”

 

To stay hungry and motivated in a peak or in good times, Amanda said she gets curious. “I’ll do some research on what’s trending in the tech industry, or start reading books on neuroscience, start learning how to speak Arabic. It’s usually outside of your industry where you get the inspiration that can give you an edge. I always like to stay ahead of what’s trending in my industry, and it keeps me hungry because I love to be curious!” 

 

You can find Amanda’s website here, her Instagram, Twitter, and her Facebook Group.

 

 

Austin Iuliano: Storyteller, Social Media Personality, Snapchat Marketer & Writer

Austin is not just my partner, he’s incredibly driven. Every day he’s looking to do something that scares him and expand his comfort zone even farther. He’s always challenging himself to do new and different things—even things he would fail at just to learn and make his comfort zone bigger. Austin is a constant student and always more than willing to learn (in fact he’s always looking to learn!).

 

Austin motivates himself by positioning fun and creative projects in the beginning of his day. He likes being able to wake up and look forward to something.

 

“Motivation for me is about starting the day off with a bang. If I start the day slow, the rest of the day continues that pace. What works best for me is the night before making a to-do list, and starting with something big that excites me. If I don’t have anything big, I start the day with a creative task that I enjoy. I use the time I am most refreshed for myself and my business.”

 

To stay motivated in great times, Austin likes igniting his competitiveness and uses other people’s success as motivation.

“When things are going well and I need to stay hungry, I turn my competitive streak on. I look at the people who are doing better than me and who I respect. Then I figure out how I can beat them, how I can double or triple down. I want to beat my peers in a way that they turn around and respect me for my work ethic.”

 

You can find Austin’s website here, his Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Snapchat.

 

 

Justin Wu: Growth Hacker & Entrepreneur

Justin has been growing leaps and bounds as an entrepreneur, and a Snapchat influencer. He’s been crushing the entrepreneurial game, meeting Marc Cuban, taking over the Wall Street Journal Snapchat account among working with loads of notable brands.

 

Simply, Justin’s crushing it. And the only way he could be doing as much as he does—is by having a clear strategy that keeps him motivated and on track to his goals.

 

“I keep myself motivated daily by understanding the overall objectives at every level. I identify my monthly goals, then cut it down to weekly and then daily. Every day I review what I did yesterday and what I have to accomplish today. It is a constant reminder that I need to get things done. 

 

I also have several accountability partners that I check in & report to with weekly. They keep you going by sharing momentum on their side but also keep you accountable in the tasks you need to get done.”

 

 

Megan Snedden: Travel Journalist, Photographer & Copywriter

Megan is absolutely one of the most fun people I’ve ever met. She hasn’t been given life’s share of roses per se and has had to overcome tremendous adversities. This has made her one of the most loving, fun and motivated people I’ve found. She’s traveled over 22 countries throughout the world as an independent young women. She’s learned different languages and is not shy about submersing herself in new, uncomfortable cultures and adventures. She takes on any challenge that is tossed her way and comes out laughing and making jokes.

 

Megan stays motivated by amping up her self esteem, and having accountability partners to mastermind with.

“I started following the advice of powerhouse entrepreneur Lisa Nichols who recommends everyday writing down at least five things you are proud of yourself for. Reaching for five things each time really expands my mind and makes me feel super good about myself. When I feel good about myself, I have more energy and enthusiasm to keep going. I also exercise, a lot. That feeling of being in my body instead of in my head really frees up my mind. Plus, I need to burn energy so I feel exhausted at the end of the day to fall asleep and wake up early the next day feeling pumped to start all over again.

 

I’ve actually been meeting with a mastermind group once a week for a year now. Mid-week we touch base on our goals and chat about our wins for the week. It definitely keeps me on track! We use Asana to track our goals as we go. That way, every once in a while when I’m having a ‘I’m not doing enough’ moment, I refer to Asana and realize, ‘wow, I’m doing more than I give myself credit for.’” Sometimes it’s hard to see the big picture when you’re right in the middle of it, then when you look back and realize what you accomplished, it’s that extra push you need.”

 

Megan is driven to the point of traveling all over the world, starting businesses and experimenting with new projects.  You can find Megan’s website here, her Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

 

You can find Megan’s website here, her Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

 

 

 

Morgan Simone: Fitness, Dance Visuals & Vlogging, Photography

Morgan is young and she’s got some serious hustle. She knows that she can create every aspect of her life, and while dabbling in entrepreneurship, dance and some serious creativity she’s taken great strides in the fitness world.

 

Morgan set her mind on making her body the best she could have. She worked out tirelessly, ate only foods that were beneficial to her health, and exercised great discipline over her mind and spirituality.

 

“Visualization is key for daily motivation and drive in my life. Each day I am sure to express gratitude for all of the blessings that I do have at the beginning and throughout the day, but when I am not expressing gratitude, I spend my time envisioning me reaching my goals. I envision the person I aim to grow into and I envision the endless possibilities I’ll have once I do become that person. I am motivated by the fact that I can create any future I want for myself and that it’s up to me to bring it to fruition. Whenever I find myself in a testing time, I tell myself ‘I was made for this and with God’s strength in me, I am limitless.’”

 

You can find Morgan’s Instagram here.

 

 

 

Test What Works for You and Make it Part of Your Daily Routine

Motivation does expire, thus you’ll have to make it part of your daily routine. Everyone is motivated by different aspects of life and goals. Tune in to yourself and identify the key factors that really motivate you.

 

Here are the daily habits that were mentioned in this article to keep you motivated. Pick and choose and kick your motivation up a level!

 

 

Daily Habits to Stay Motivated When Times Are Tough & When Times Are Great

• Fill up on positive motivational content constantly

• Create a morning motivation routine

• Surround yourself with motivating, inspiring people

• Get into nature for fresh inspiration

• Increase your level of service and help others

• Be curious and start learning for new inspiration

• Proactively create new, creative and fun projects to look forward to

• Use the success of others to ignite your inner fire

• Create monthly, weekly and daily goals

• Send weekly reports to your accountability partners to stay on track

• Create a list everyday of your accomplishments

• Get accountability partners, and mastermind-friends to keep you on track

• Visualize every aspect of your life, with you #winning

• Visualize who you desire to be, and the life you desire to create

• Express gratitude for everything that you have, and everything that you are

 

Looking to stay on top of your goals?

 

Download this free goal setting workbook to crush through the rest of the year.

 

 

If you liked this article, you’ll also enjoy:

Goal Setting Worksheet that Will Help You Crush 2016 Like a Boss

5 Mistakes in Goal Setting that Hold You Back from Success

Setting Goals: 5 Reasons Why You Fail and How to Master Them

11 Ways to Wake Up in a Great Mood and Start a Productive Day

71 Unbelievably Easy Tips to Crush Productivity This Year

9 Daily Steps to Be More Productive and Get Shit Done

 

How do you stay motivated? We’d love to know! Tell us how you stay motivated in the comments.

 

This article was originally posted on dscience.co

 

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MONDAY MUSE: EMELINA SPINELLI Interview

 

MONDAY MUSE: EMELINA SPINELLI

 

Emelina Spinelli is a creator, entrepreneur, marketer, bad-ass business chic, and wanderlustin’ babe. She grew her IG following from 500 to 5,000 in three months – without buying her followers. If you’re looking for Instagram consulting, Emelina is your girl.

 

With a genuine love for Instagram Emelina uses the community to help brands gain exposure, launch influencer campaigns, connect with their audience or attract collaborations.

 

Starting her career at 19 years old selling pop art paintings in coffee shops and bars, the list can go on and on with Emelina’s skill set and resume. She has morphed her graphic design business into a digital marketing and brand agency and now runs her own digital marketing blog.

 

I could seriously write paragraphs about how inspiring Emelina is, but luckily her “About Me” page on her own site is killer, so I want you to check it out yourself!

 

What was your dream job as a child?

To be honest, I loved researching about dinosaurs. I had always said that I wanted to be a paleontologist (I think I just thought it sounded cool, lol). Other than looking for prehistoric reptiles, I loved art. On any given day you could have found me drawing, learning how to make things, build different crafty-type things, making pin-hole cameras, or playing my saxophone.

 

I’m not sure that I had a “dream job” per se, but I always knew without a doubt that I would be an entrepreneur. My parents ran their own business, and the entrepreneurship was bred into me at a young age. I knew that entrepreneurship meant that you had control over your time, and that you could make whatever you were willing to make and work for financially. Those benefits spoke to me. It felt like freedom.

 

Who is the person that inspires you the most?

First, I’m really great at inspiring myself without external people or circumstances. I believe that you have to be able to motivate and inspire yourself on demand if you want to get anything done and accomplish larger-than-life goals. With that, my boyfriend, Austin Iuliano inspires me tremendously every day. I’m so grateful that we’ve been together for 6 years, and his strengths are the opposite of mine.

 

He inspires me to be happy and grateful every day, no matter the external circumstances. Nothing shakes him from being happy—he’s probably the happiest person I’ve ever met. And considering the things he’s been through, and that we’ve been through together this is not an easy task. In fact, I think it can be easy to lose track of what matters and get caught up in what other people think you should do to be happy.

 

Austin inspires me to keep excelling, laugh constantly, and enjoy every moment in this life—and I love him for it!

 

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What’s the best advice you’ve received?

The best advice that I’ve received is to be patient, and that success is inevitable if you put in the work.

 

#1 Be Patient, Life is a Game of Inches

I used to think that all these people and influencers you see in the media were “overnight successes.” After digging deeper and learning about their backgrounds, what they went through, and when they started, I realized that success takes years! It doesn’t even take 3-4 years, it’s more like 10-15+. I have some very high goals, so I was looking at how long it takes to become a millionaire, billionaire and celebrity personality. These things take time! The point is to be patient, keep doing the work and the results will show in time.

 

Life’s a game of inches. If you do one small thing to progress yourself every single day the results in a year will be astronomical!

 

#2 Success is Inevitable if You Put in the Grind, and Never Give Up

I remember the day that I learned that success is inevitable. I cried out of relief and happiness. I had been running businesses for years, and was hoping for the “overnight success.” I put in 12-15 hour days for years (and still do!) and I just didn’t know if it was ever going to pay off. I remember hearing somewhere that if you put in the work every day and never give up—that you’ll inevitably achieve what you’re aiming for.

 

After doing this for over 9 years, I can say it’s true! There will be tough times, and really tough times, but if you stick with your goals and obsessions they pay off. Success is inevitable.

 

What’s the worst advice you’ve received?

The worst advice that people have given me (it’s come a number of times) was to be a “big fish in a small pond.” I grew up in Upstate New York, and I met serious resistance from everyone I knew when I wanted to start a business, and then move to New York City. It took me years to muster up the courage to move there, and I couldn’t be happier that I did. There’s the idea that it’s better to be “known” or be a “big” person in a small town. I’ve heard this countless times, but it never resonated. I always wanted to live in big cities, and be surrounded by the best of the best to inspire me to excel and achieve more. Any day, I would rather be nothing in comparison to the “greats” than look like the biggest thing since sliced bread in a small community.

 

If you were to challenge your friends to a race (and you were better than them) you would win every time. However, if you were to race people that were much faster than you—you’d lose every time! Your time however, would get better and better.

 

Surround yourself with people that are much better than you at something that you aspire to be. This keeps you in a constant state of bettering yourself and striving to achieve more.

 

Where did the idea of Instagram Consulting come from?

I grew my account from 500 to 5,000 followers in 3-4 months and I knew I was on to something. I had a re-creatable method of growth hacking social media followings—specifically Instagram. I’ve always done social media consulting and brand consulting. It just made sense with my success on Instagram to start offering consulting.

 

Can people really make money off Instagram?

Absolutely! I’ve met countless influencers that make money off of Instagram. I even believe that you could be making money without much influence at all—500 followers or so. You just have to know exactly what you’re offering (what you’re selling) and to whom (your audience). Here’s a hint—the thing your selling must provide a solution to your audience. Don’t just sell something because you think it’s cool—it must resonate with and be of value to the audience.

 

My friend @tatianna_tarot makes the majority of her full-time living as a tarot card reader from Instagram. No joke! A friend I met in LA, @charmainelago makes her monthly income from brand collaborations on her fashion blog (all sourced from Instagram). Not only do I get clients from Instagram, but brands have hired me indirectly because of my following.

 

If you’re wondering how to stand out (for any job) in a crowded marketplace, just grow your social media following. I could argue that it holds more clout than a bachelor’s degree. I’ve worked with Fox Studios, Pepsi, Coke, Honda, Samsung, Happy Socks, Free People and Daniel Wellington—all because of my Instagram following (among also being tremendously good at marketing, design and content creation). I never would have received these opportunities without Instagram (building my following there). I hear the same thing from other influencers and businesses all the time.

 

What is the #1 mistake people make when trying to gain followers on Instagram?

People post what they think is right for them, not taking into consideration what their followers actually want to see. Each following is a little different, but there are consistencies in what they like to see in people’s accounts. The easiest way to increase your engagement, is to pay attention to what your followers like in your account. You want to keep your engagement as high as possible to grow your following.

 

Go through your Instagram feed and find all the photos that did the best for you. Then create and post more photos like these. I do this every month. I take the cream of the crop in my account every month and give my audience more of what they like. This has a lot to do with how I’ve grown my account and have kept my engagement high. It’s really important! And unfortunately, I think most people treat their Instagram feeds like a celebrity feed where they assume it’s about them. It’s not! Your just creating content that becomes an extension of your followers. It’s really about your followers—not you. Make them happy, and keep them engaged by posting things they want to see.

What do people assume about your career that isn’t true?

They think that if they make great content that they’ll automatically be found and discovered. You could make the best content in the world, but if you don’t know how to market yourself, get yourself out there and distribute your content—you won’t be found (by brands, influencers, etc.)

 

I think to a large degree people think I’m lucky for what I have, and though luck is certainly involved, I work ridiculously hard to have what I have. For example, I spent at least one hour every day on Instagram commenting and being present for my community and on the platform for my first year. Luck happens when preparation meets opportunity.

What advice can you give to someone who wants to start their own brand?

Get a photographer to grab some really great candid shots of you. Use those for all your cover, profile images and photos for your website. Then get to work growth hacking your social media following. These are all the factors to brand building that make you “credible” and “attractive.” Past that, the next steps would be figuring out what you’re selling, and how you’re going to market it through social media.

 

dscience-emelina-spinelli

What’s the hardest obstacle you’ve had to overcome in creating your brand?

The hardest part about branding yourself, is that you are ever-evolving. Similarly, you’re brand is ever-evolving, changing and moving. As you learn and grow, your brand changes a little bit, and you have to reflect that in your branding, copy and imagery. I’ve “re-branded” and re-positioned countless times as I get to know myself better, and as I understand what I desire. It’s always easier to help other people brand and market themselves than doing it for yourself—you tend to overthink things. At least I do!

 

Celebrity Crush?

I really love Sara Blakely. I think she’s been a really great feminine entrepreneur role model. She always has grace and beauty and runs her business with a feminine touch that makes all the difference. Michelle Obama is another favorite celebrity of mine.

If you could go back and give your 19 year-old self advice, what would it be?

Work harder. What you think is “work” right now is a walk in the park. And never take things for granted. Be grateful for the things and people you have in your life now.

 

How do you want people to remember you?

I want people to remember me as the influencer that told it to them “real.” I’m not here to sugar coat things, or spoon feed people BS that it’s going to be easy. It’s not. Running a business, marketing yourself, mastering your online brand and online presence is no walk in the park. However, the people that master these traits have the entire world at their fingertips. They have options, they can choose the jobs they want, work with top Fortune 500 brands, and they get to make a difference in the world.

 

I desire to be remembered as the person that gave the real information to succeed in social media and branding and that gave all the resources to do it!

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This article was originally posted on: Joss Because

 

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How to Sell Your Creative Ideas: 3 Fail-Proof Methods

How to Sell Your Creative Ideas: 3 Fail-Proof Methods

You can be the most creative designer on the planet… but if you don’t know how to sell yourself and your ideas you won’t make it past doodling works of art on your computer.

Ideas and creativity are only as good as your salesmanship.

Tweet this.

If you have the brightest content in your noggin’ but you can’t persuade someone to join your enthusiasm for the idea or the design, then how do you expect to get it done?

The key to success as a designer or a creative is to sell your ideas.

How to sell your creative ideas

Learn to “Sell” Your Ideas.

Many clients just don’t know any better. They didn’t go to school for design, and they don’t share the same love for typography and color theory.

That’s why they hired… you!

We’ve all encountered situations where we create a pack of designs (whether for a logo or perhaps a website). We have a couple ideas that are “meh” at best, and there’s always at least one design that we knocked out of the park.

Quantity does not equal quality.

As designers and creatives, we go to the client with all our ideas (of varying quality) to show that we did the actual work. Not dissimilar from “doing-out” a mathematical algebra equation in high school. We want them to know that we didn’t just whip it together in 15 minutes. This leads us to show all our work.

We look for praise and approval from our clients.

And somewhere inside us, we think they are going to say: “Great job, I can see all the work and effort you put into the project. This is clearly the best piece (the one you think is the best), let’s go with it!” without further question.

That’s the disillusioned reality we sometimes create in our heads.

In reality, clients are usually not sure what makes a design “great” or worthy of hitting the publish button.

They don’t have the creative education or technical know how. And as creatives, we certainly can’t hold that against them. With this sort of approach, they will almost always choose the “safe” option. This is usually your least favorite design in the collection of creative options.

Why?

Because they are afraid of making a risky decision.

They don’t want to be judged, and are often afraid of making the “wrong” decision. Not that there ever is a wrong decision, because creativity and business is totally subjective.

Do you want your clients to back your work, and pick your BEST designs?

Then you must learn to sell yourself.

Sell Your Creative Ideas.

#1 Show and Tell

Show and Tell

Take all of the pain out of this process by taking the creative reigns. This is kind of a leadership role reversal. Rather than solely seeking approval, take charge.

It’s your job not only to create amazing work, but to also educate your clients. Make it your responsibility to show your client why the work is invaluable.

Show them what the best design would be, and then back it up with an out-of-the-park explanation.

You must walk them through your decisions as a designer or creative and show them upfront why this particular creative idea will be the most effective in selling their product or service.

The first step here is to take an intake process. Create a design briefthat allows your client to communicate their needs.

Make sure you understand their brand, the emotions that their brand needs to invoke and take care in getting to know their ideal customers. You can pick up a free brand template here. It may help your client be clearer in communicating with you.

Upon presenting your ideas, add a write-up to your work.

Explain to them why you chose the colors you did. Help them understand the psychology of color and how the colors you chose connect more with their audience.

Do the same with your type too. Explain the typeface you chose, and why the “serifed type communicates a sense of sophistication to their brand” (or whatever the specific trait is).

If you’re looking for help writing up your design “justifications” (as I like to call them), I have a great little guide that goes through, type, imagery and color theory that you can download for free, here.

#2 Mock-Up Your Best Designs

Mock Up Your best Designs

If you were doing a presentation to showcase your best work (which you are), would you just flip through some logos on your computer or a pdf?

Hopefully not!

It’s easier than ever now to mock-up your designs. And it does a world of difference for your presentation.

Treat your client meeting as a presentation, and do everything in your capacity to make your work really sing.

If you’ve designed a logo…

Pick your favorite logo and mock it up on a stationary set. This helps non-visual people (probably your client) see and understand the beauty and practical application behind the design.

If you’ve designed a tee shirt…

Mock the design up on t-shirts and models. Find photos of models in an environment that your client would dig, and get that logo on the shirt!

If you’ve designed a website…

Show what the website will look like on a desktop computer and a mocked-up mobile device. Let them see what the home page looks like on the computer itself.

If you’ve designed an advertisement…

Create a mock-up design where your client can see the billboard on the streets of L.A. or at a bus station in NYC.

Yes it totally takes additional time and attention to create a better presentation. You don’t have to do it. But is it worth putting in an extra couple of hours to sell yourself in the best way possible?

This is the difference between when I sold logos for $350 versus $3,000.

Say “goodbye” to client disagreements…

#3 Make it about THEM, and THEIR CLIENTS

Make It About Them

It’s not about how creative you are or what you think. It’s about how you can show the value of the work to their audience.

Take the time to understand what their key-performance-indicators look like in the beginning of your process. Understand what success looks like for your clients, and what goals they are looking to achieve.

Use their goals to sell your ideas after you’ve placed all your creative attention into making a beautiful logo or website.

Sell the end result.

You’ve created a magical formula where your design meets the client goals. Remember to tell your clients how the design accomplishes what they were looking for.

That’s our goal as creatives anyway right!?

We are here to create a happy medium of something beautiful with practical application. The designs must connect with the client, and even more importantly, must connect with the audience.

Selling these ideas with confidence and consideration will be sure to have all your creative ideas heard and chosen! Obviously, there are some trickier clients… that just means you have an opportunity to communicate even better than you ever have before.

Emelina Spinelli is an art director and marketing strategist at d.science. She helps entrepreneurs build personal brands using the power of social media. Emelina believes mastering your marketing should be easy and spends her time creating tutorials and online courses for entrepreneurs to build their brands. When she’s not working, find her on Instagram.

 

This article was originally posted on Just Creative.

 

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How to Build an Attractive Brand on Instagram

How to Build an Attractive Brand on Instagram

 

How to Build an Attractive Brand on Instagram

Instagram has been gaining popularity lately in business markets. It totally makes sense because of the amount of sheer attention that is present in this growing social media.

 

Everyone wants to be an “Instagram influencer” and bust the mold, attracting tens of thousands of followers. The thought then comes to mind—what do all these influencers have in common? They usually have incredibly attractive accounts (and are very often incredibly attractive people). With just this simple theory, you can start to make your account more attractive to garner a following.

 

 

What Makes an Account Attractive?

Obviously, this is variable, because beauty is in the eye of the beholder. However, there are general trends that tend to make accounts more or less, attractive. Not sure if an account is in the “attractive” category? Just take a look at their followers and engagement. The market doesn’t lie. If people like the content and the account, it will certainly show in the numbers.

 

It’s not just about being pretty, sexy or fun. Attractiveness in social media and the market is gauged by whether or not someone wants your life. I’ll get to this more in a moment.

 

Attractiveness can me monitored and created. Mostly, it comes down to—do you live a normal life? If so, then I guarantee that you’re “not attractive.” The teens refer to this as a “N.A.R.P.” (non-athletic regular person). Regular people don’t want to see what other “regular people” do on a day-to-day basis. Simply, they’ve experienced it and aren’t interested in consuming content that they live.

 

The magic—and the attractiveness, comes from living an ab-normal extraordinary life. You may be wondering, what makes an extraordinary life. It’s everything that normal people don’t do. It can be that you’re super hot because you work out like crazy every day, or you have a stellar sense of fashion sense and style. It can be that you travel the world because you’re a journalist, or that you brunch every afternoon with friends and influencers. It can be that you’re an adrenaline junkie, or that you love taking wanderlust, adventure pics.

 

I just must be different, and extraordinary.

The more unique and EPIC the account, lifestyle and photos are—the more followers and engagement they garner.

 

Trends to “Be Attractive”

There are trends that are generally “more attractive.” Some of these trends are just themes for your Instagram account: hotness (literally hot models, fitness buffs, etc.), Travel, Food, Coffee, Brunch, Luxury, Fashion, and more.

 

 

Great Lighting

If you look at really successful accounts, they almost always have incredible photos with great lighting. The commonality with accounts that don’t garner any attention is that they have dimly-lit shots that are dark and grimy. These don’t do well for obvious reasons.

 

Shoot your pics during the day (especially in the early morning or evening before the sun sets for that beautiful light-glow). You can also get a couple of soft-boxes for lighting if you’re shooting often in your home to make it look like you’re using daylight.

 

How to Build an Attractive Brand on Instagram

 

Fantastic Photos

These are the pics that stop you in your tracks. They inspire others and look amazing. Anything that invokes a sense of “awe” or wonder will fall into this category. The composition, colors and framing are perfect and you can’t stop looking at it. This is what a fantastic photo feels like.

 

This just involves stepping up your photography game. Research how to make a great composition and how colors work together. Then get on out there and take pics! An easy way to get around being a great photographer too, it so go to beautiful places in nature. I think you could probably point-and-shoot anywhere in at the Grand Canyon and get a great shot. Start thinking like this 😉

 

 

Consistent Filters & Edited Photos

All really epic, big Instagram accounts have been using consistent filters and they edit their photos. You can already have a great photo, and it’s just further emphasized by the filters. There’s such a difference between an un-edited pic and otherwise.

 

For instance, take a look at this photo difference. I took the photo on the left, and then dropped it into the apps Filterstorm and VSCO to edit.

 

How to Build an Attractive Brand on Instagram

 

 

Photo “Theme” (color or objects etc)

The great accounts are all “themed.” They have a common theme through the feed either in subject, format, color, etc. It’s kind of like creating and showing art at a gallery exhibit. When you show, each piece has to be different. However, all the pieces must also look like they belong together as an exhibit. They must have several things in common between the pieces to fit in the gallery. Cohesively, each piece must build on the next and contribute to the overall aesthetic.

 

Instagram is no different. There’s a reason why the feed in Instagram is called a “gallery.”

 

Each photo is different, but there is something that ties everything together that makes each pic belong to the gallery. You can do this by applying the same set of filters to each photo. You can do this by using a single or two color scemes throughout the feed. You can theme your gallery by theming it per topic or object—or even by format (placing white boarders, etc.).

 

 

Listen to the Market & Respond

Your audience will naturally show you what photos they like best through the process of selection. Look through your feed. There will be photos that have 30% more likes and engagement than the others. Take a look at all the pics in your feed that are doing well. What’s in common? Maybe they’re all your travel pics, or latte shots, or luxury fashion-wear. Whatever it is, you’ll start to see a theme.

 

After you do this social listening—respond! Start posting more of the content your audience already wants!

 

 

Include Brand Values & Philosophy

Know what you stand for as a brand and what’s important to you. Within the guidelines above, create a visual representation of the lifesytle and philosophy that resonates with you. Brands that do the best, represent lifestyle ideas that the audience members can connect to (and that they already feel & live but come to associate living that lifestyle with your brand).

 

 

These are the guidelines that create incredible attractive Instagram accounts. You’re gonna want to be as attractive as possible to increase your top line follow count and engagement metrics!

 

Come say hi on Instagram! Follow me at @ecspinelli.

emelina spinelli

 

Have more to add? Let us know in the comments!

 

If you liked this article you’ll enjoy:

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7 Ironclad Reasons Instagram Stories are Superior to Snapchat

 

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How to Get 10K Followers on Instagram in Under a Year

How to Get 10K Followers on Instagram in Under a Year

 

How to Get 10K Followers on Instagram in Under a Year

I bet you’ve been seeing all these influencers on Instagram. You’re probably thinking—how the hell do I get over 10,000 followers and start working with brands!? If this is a goal you’re looking to reach, you’ll have to have a plan.

 

It’s rare for anyone to just “go viral” and get thousands upon thousands of followers in a week or  a month. Yes, this happens but it’s RARE. Every influencer that I’ve had the pleasure of meeting put in some serious work and hustle. They all had a strategy that they were implementing. This is why they all have over 10k followers!

 

I’ve watched countless accounts go from 100-500 followers to 10k, 20k, 50k and more—in 1-2 years. There aren’t “set rules” to grow your Instagram account, but I can certainly tell you from experience what they all have in common.

 

Here are some strategies to grow your Instagram account past 10,000 followers in less than one year.

 

 

Post Frequently

You can’t possibly expect to “get big” if you’re posting randomly a few times a month. Start posting daily, if not twice every day. Posting frequently allows you to reach more people through hashtags on a daily basis.

 

Post the BEST Possible Photos You Can Take

I’ve tested lots of photos through my feed and in other accounts I run. I can tell you for sure that if you have what the audience deems to be AMAZING content, that you’ll get followers and engagement. With that, always strive to take the absolute best pics that you can. Seriously. And invest in your pics too. I can’t even begin to tell you how much my photos have cost me over the last year. Many of those lattes I order just for the photo and never drink because I’ve already had my fill of coffee or what have you for the day!

 

 

Continually Test How Photos Perform

Remember, it’s not about YOU and what you like. It’s about your audience. You could be a great landscape photographer and take technically-beautiful photos. It doesn’t mean that your audience will love it. Maybe they just like lattes, or crazy-adventure-travel shots. You’ll know as you start to get in and post.

 

Test different styles, filters and more. Try posting a variety of pics, and lots of different interests and hobbies. Watch how your audience reacts to the photos. If you get little to no engagement, then you’ll know that those photos don’t resonate. If you get loads of engagement, then you know what to post more of. It’s not about what you want to share on Instagram. It’s all about what your audience resonates with (that also coincides with your personality).

 

 

Engage with a Community Frequently

I can’t tell you how many people I’ve met on Instagram that think they’re small celebrities. Let me get this out on the table now—you are never to big to not respond to comments and engage with your community. This is especially the case if you have under 50k followers. Get in there and comment, chat, start conversations and be present in your community.

 

Have you seen accounts with 100k followers, but only 500-1000 likes per photo? I see them ALL THE TIME. It’s because they’re not present in their community. They’re just looking for the big numbers to show brands, but don’t actually give a s#&$ about their followers.

 

Take the time to get to know your followers. Say hi, engage, like their content and comment. It does wonders.

 

Care About Others, Comment, Chat and Share Your Experiences

Like I said above, get in and have conversations! Share you wisdom, your experience or whatever you have to offer. Do this in your post descriptions too. We all have so much to offer and share. Instagram isn’t just a popularity contest. Be present, be real and—be authentic

 

Connect with Like-Minded People

When you come across other people that you think you’d jive with—connect! I have met and come across so many awesome people from Instagram that I ended up shooting photos with, collaborating or going out for coffee. It makes the whole thing worth while when you meet and collaborate with like-minded people. Reach out to people that you come across locally and see if you can collab in person!

 

This can also be done online. Be creative and come up with other collaborations that you can do without being in the same city. I’ve also seen many Instagram influencers fly around to visit other new friends that they made on Insta while traveling.

 

 

Offer Authentic Information About Yourself in Your Bio & Descriptions

Be real and be yourself. There’s no point in projecting yourself to be someone else. The more real you are, the more people will connect with you. People like to be friends and do business with people they like, know and trust. An easy way to attract the right people that will resonate with you is to offer authenticity in your bio and through your post descriptions. Write about nuggets of wisdom you come across on your day-to-day and include little personality gems that come up.

 

For example, maybe you’re in love with puppies… maybe more than the average person—let your following know about it! Or you’re a straight coffee addict and are brewing a new set of mock-tail espresso recipes. These are “personality gems” as I like to call them. They build depth to your personality and show you as being more dynamic.

 

 

Use GeoTags and Tag Popular Locations

Geotags are kind of like targeted-real-time keywords. People only search the geo tags when they’re either at a particular location, or looking to go there. If you were to frequent popular locations and “geo tag” them in your Instagram feed, you’ll naturally get more exposure. You’ll know if it’s a high-traffic location based on how popular the geo-tag feed is when you pull it up on Insta. If there are thousands of pics and they are recent, you’re probably in a good place.

 

Also, take a look at the top posts. If you see lots of big influencers in the feed for the location, that’s another sign that it may be a popular geo tag.

 

 

Use Trending Hashtags

Search through your “search feed” in Instagram and see what’s trending for the day. You’ll naturally receive more traffic to your account if you’re using trending hashtags for the day or week.

 

 

Post Trending Topics and Photos

Yes, you’re going to have to stay on trends ?

When it’s national coffee day… like today is (!) make sure you’re posting relevant pics in your feed with all the trending hashtags. Today you can use #nationalcoffeeday. This will get you more relevant exposure when there’s noticeably more traffic to a hashtag—just like today for #nationalcoffeeday.

 

If you’re looking for more exposure, it’d be a great idea to stay on top of the national “____days” whether it’s coffee, puppies, or donuts.

 

 

Get Inspiration from Top Accounts

You won’t be able to keep up the demand of creating AWESOME pics all the time without inspiration. Keep a log of accounts you love. Go through them frequently and take note of the types of photos you love (because your audience would probably love them too!). Use this inspiration on your next Instagram shoot.

 

I actually take screen shots of my favorite pics, and I add them to a gallery of “Instagram ideas” on my phone.

 

Participate or Plan Instagram Meet Ups

If you want to meet other Instagrammers, plan a meet up! You can do it pretty easily by connecting with other igers in your area (on Instagram through the messenger), or through meetup.com.

 

Keep your ears and eyes perked for when other people are planning meet-ups on Instagram. When they happen—attend! That’s how you can meet lots of other awesome people and jump-start collaborations.

 

 

Set Time Aside Every Week or Every Month to Shoot Pics

There’s nothing worse than knowing that it’s time for you to post your daily pic—and you have NO good photos. It’s not unlike rummaging through your closet in the morning, looking for something to wear.

 

Most influencers that I have met set aside real-time to take loads of photos for their IG at least once every month. Make the time, schedule it out in your calendar and take some sweet pics!

 

Do This Daily and Weekly for at Least 12 Months

This tip has everything to do with consistency.

 

You can do everything perfectly, or even just for a few months and you may not get very far with it. Put in the work for a year and see where you’re at. Give yourself some time and patience to put in the work and watch the results. It took me just under a year to get 10,000 followers. Nothing was particularly hard. The most challenging piece to building my following was being consistent every single day with all of the tips above.

 

Get Additional Resources and Consulting 

If you’re doing everything I mentioned through the article, and you’re not getting results get some Instagram consulting. A short session from someone who knows what they’re doing can make a world of a difference. Like any other consulting, you go to people that have tons of experience with what you’re looking to achieve. They can look at what you’re doing and see immediately what can be done to improve your results. Obviously remember to exercise discernment.

 

If you are looking for Instagram consulting, it’s something that I offer. My Instagram strategies and consulting have been featured on Entrepreneur Magazine, Business Insider, and Business2Community. I offer 30, 60, 90 minute sessions and account audits. Learn more on how to work-with-me for Instagram consulting here.

 

Also, grab free resources at your disposal. If you’re looking to grow your Instagram following, sign up here for the Double Your Instagram free video training. Thousands of people have gone through it, and LOVE it!

 

Come on over to the party I have going on — on Instagram and say Hi!

how to get 10k followers on instagram

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How to Use Instagram Stories to Market Your Brand

How to Use Instagram Stories to Market Your Brand

How to Use Instagram Stories to Market Your Brand

 

Instagram blew up recently with their new “stories” function. Besides openly ripping off Snapchat, the stories are pretty functional to grow your brand or your business.

 

Actually, I’ve enjoyed using them a little bit! They’re great because they offer additional exposure to your audience, and another way to connect. When you post a story, people can message you based on each post just like on Snapchat. This allows more interaction and engagement with your followers on Instagram!

 

Plus, I’ve noticed that I have more exposure on my stories than I may have otherwise on each post I create for Instagram! Instagram looks like they’re giving a little more runway and exposure to your audience via stories, so make sure you check it out!

 

I’ve been monitoring how people have been using stories, and it’s actually pretty similar to the way that they use Instagram (no big surprise there). Even though the platform is similar to Snapchat, people use it differently. Rather than streaming your face (the way Snapchatters do), Instagram stories are about posting sweet pics through your day of beautiful things and environments. it’s kind of like a behind-the-scenes slide show. Not to mention, everything that’s posted is beautiful.

 

So the question arises, how do you use this to grow your business or brand?

Let me jump right in and give you some tips to use stories to create hype around you.

 

 

Give Your Followers Behind-the-Scenes Access

Much like a VIP at a club or a show, give your audience behind-the-scenes access. Show them what you do in your business or with your brand. If you have a product, show how it’s made or the production process. If you’re a photographer, show yourself choosing new pics to edit, or live on a shoot with a client. If you’re running an online business, show what you do through the day that only insiders would see! Show some secrets, create some mystery and give another dimension to your brand.

 

This can be done a variety of ways.

I would start with something on the first image that says “VIP ACCESS” or “INSIDER ACCESS” or something like this to intrigue. Then snap away! Try just posting pics with some text on top, a series of videos or explainers, or mix still and video. Remember to ask your followers to send you a message and connect with you too so you can start engaging even more with them and building relationships.

 

 

Show Your Day-to-Day… (if your life is cool!)

Allow me to preface this by saying that no one will be interested in seeing the day-to-day of a normal person’s life. The reason why they’re on social and watching your stories to begin with is because they’re using social as a tool to dream, and escape from the normal realities they face on a daily basis. Give them something to love and aspire to!

 

For example, I have a friend that is mostly normal all around, but she recently got invited to NY Fashion Week care of JCrew. JCrew invited her to NYC to take part in a stylized-fashion shoot specific for fashion week, and she was one of the new models (without any modeling experience or crazy amounts of Instagram followers!). She got to see all the behind the scenes for a JCrew art directed photo shoot, live with all the craziness that happens at these events. And she did it for 2 days.

 

This is an example of something that you’d want to show through Instagram stories as a day-to-day. Had she decided to broadcast the moments throughout the day (even more “boring” ones) her followers would have LOVED it! They’d see her modeling for a major fashion brand, eating lunch with the creative director and having someone do her hair and makeup.

 

Mostly they’d be able to place themselves in her shoes even for a few moments and say to themselves “maybe I can have that cool of a life too!”

 

I know… it sounds kind of vain, but I promise you that if your followers don’t WANT YOUR LIFE, that you won’t have a following. It’s just how it goes. It’s part of psychology. If your followers admire you, what you stand for, and the life you live, they’ll follow you and engage with you.

 

Alas, with all that… if you have cool stuff that you do on a day-to-day basis—show it! It’ll gain you street cred with your audience and build your brand.

 

 

Show a Curation of Your Day

I keep seeing these types of stories on Instagram, and they totally resonate with me so I’m sure they do with others too. Some of my favorite Instagrammers are posting a curation of their day on their stories through static photos.

 

For example, I’ll see something like 4-6 pics of coffeeshops and cool scenes in NYC throughout the day, or coffee-shop hopping in Los Angeles. They’re just a string of beautifully taken static shots to give you another type of Instagram gallery (within stories). Just with the story feature, they disappear in 24 hours creating more urgency to watch them!

 

 

Get Up Close and Personal: Do an AMA (Ask Me Anything)

Get to know your followers, and allow them to connect with you on a more personal basis. This is an opportunity for people to get up-close and personal with your brand. Of course this builds more brand awareness for you, and consequently will earn you more Instagram story views.

 

An “ask me anything” is where you announce to your followers that they can submit any questions, and that you’ll answer them on your story for the day. This is a terrific way to humanize your brand.

 

 

Create Giveaways in Your Stories

I love to do giveaways on my Instagram feed. I’ve found that announcing the giveaways every day on my story and telling people what’s in the giveaway and how to enter has been really great for engagement. They’ll go straight from my story to my gallery and comment on the giveaway post!

 

Dig this article? Come say hi on Instagram! @ecspinelli

How to Use Instagram Stories to Market Your Brand

 

I certainly hope this helps you effectively use Instagram stories to build your brand and business.

Remember to hop on over and download your free Instagram training (Double Your Instagram Following)!

 

Like this article? Then you’ll probably like these too!

48 Instagram Accounts to Follow for on Demand Inspiration

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How to Create Stunning Content for Your Instagram

 

Have any more epic tips to grow your brand with Instagram’s new Story feature? Let us know in the comments!

 

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48 Instagram Accounts to Follow for On-Demand Inspiration

48 instagram accounts to follow for on demand inspiration

 

47 Instagram Accounts to Follow for On-Demand Inspiration

As an Instagram consultant, whenever I talk to my clients they always ask me about creative direction. What type of photos to take and how to stay inspired. I have an ongoing list of amazingly creative individuals that I personally pull on when I am out of creative ideas.

As you know, great content is the secret to growing your Instagram following.

We all need inspiration. Most people can’t just pull it out of thin air. Inspiration often comes from “stealing like an artist.” So steal away! I’ve compiled a list of my favorite go-to Instagram accounts for incredible inspiration, on-demand.

 

A Beautiful Mess

☀ @runnerkimhall #ABMlifeissweet

A photo posted by Elsie + Emma A Beautiful Mess (@abeautifulmess) on

 

Adventure that is Life

 

Alex Strohl

Alexa Fernando

 

Allie M Taylor

 

Artifact Uprising

 

Austin Iuliano

 

Ballerina Project

 

Cali and Coffee

“As long as you are who you are, a little bit and a little grit is a good thing.” Says this girl you know right here ! My interview for #espressoandcigarettes by @darksidestudiosla is published and fabulous. Laughs, sass etc! . I met these two amazing artists through Instagram and look at what magic we have made now. Read the article and let me know what you enjoyed the most. Please put awesome quotes or your thoughts in the comments section below. Link in the bio…of course. . . . #coffeeshots #kopi #coffeegirl #coffeeculture #coffeegram #coffeegeek#caligirl #cafe#café#visitcalifornia #coffeetravel #specialtycoffee #thirdwavecoffee #coffeelocal #khave #coffeeshopvibes #immtribe #simplepleasures #coffeepodcast #coffeeandcake #dtla #lacoffee #☕ #photoshoot #losangelescoffee #personality #coffeelove

A photo posted by Amanda | Coffee And Podcast (@caliandcoffee) on

 

The Chalkboard Mag

 

Captured the Moments

Good morning Thursday “Say yes to new adventures” and thats exactly what’s coming up! I received these wonderful gifts from @nunucodesign how cute are they! Thanks again @nunucodesign The passport holder comes in handy very soon!! Have a great day my friends #nunucodesigncompany #nunucodesign #funandcolorful #ndchappyagenda • • • • #wimfdt #flatlay #clickandeat #livethelittlethings #feelfreefeed #theartofslowliving #folklife #byfolk #finditliveit #folkgood #justgoshoot #chasinglight #thatauthenticfeeling #darlingweekend #gatheringslikethese #verilymoment #myopenkitchen #pursuepretty #thehappynow #foodinhands #amblifeiscolorful #littlestoriesofmylife #humansofjoy #still_life_gallery #theeverydayproject #tablesituation

A photo posted by Captured the moments (@capturedthemoments_) on

 

Chase Loreto

 

Casey Neistat

fun photoshoot with @lovebryan

A photo posted by Casey Neistat (@caseyneistat) on

 

Ckanani

 

Clancy McLain

I only look sweet as pie. Don’t let this photo fool you ❤ #redhead #fire #ginger

A photo posted by Clancy McLain (@clancymclain) on

 

Coffee Shops of the World

 

Cory Staudacher

Beach days

A photo posted by Cory Staudacher (@withhearts) on

 

Diane Elizabeth

 

d.science

 

Dylan Frust

 

Emelina Spinelli

 

Feast Fashion Faves

 

Flatlays

Desk via @stephanyayinda

A photo posted by Flatlays (@flatlays) on

 

Fliickman

So we didn’t plan this but I’ll take it… Ran into @rubysriwall #coffeefliicks

A photo posted by Snapchat: Fliickman (@fliickman) on

 

Glitter Guide

Easy like Sunday morning ✨✨ @sparklemedia

A photo posted by Glitter Guide (@glitterguide) on

 

Halee Edwards

Chocolate old fashioned donuts are (finally) a go! ***Also currently testing cake donuts*** #thegingersnapbakes

A photo posted by Halee Edwards (@theginger_snap) on

 

Gk.living

Happy Tuesday everyone ✌, enjoy your day!!

A photo posted by Interior & Lifestyle (@gk.living) on

 

I Am J Sullivan

 

In The Frow

 

Ivy Muse

 

Justin Wu

 

Kat Hennessey

 

Lisa Linh

 

Dani Rios

C R A V I N G S ! Who else loves macaroons?

A photo posted by Dani Rios (@littlemixico) on

 

Liza Herlands

Southern food has become a theme for me this week… And I’m not mad

A photo posted by Liza Like Minnelli (@lizaherlands_) on

 

Megan Snedden

 

Melissa Male

 

Morgan Simone

Ms. Crystall always told us, “energy through the finger tips, people.” : @steiner.creative Part 3

A photo posted by Morgan Simone (@bymorg) on

 

Mundane Distraction

Looking back on dreamy drives through Big Sur on the website today ✨ Click the link in my bio to see the rest of the gallery

A photo posted by …for this distracted globe (@mundanedistraction) on

 

Nicolas Crespo

 

Project Adventure

 

Pursuit of Portraits

 

Alana Yarbrough

Pause your scrolling for a mere second & say this with me, “Less Moves, More Focus”. What’s that mean? It means to pause the ‘busy’ of today. Examine where you can be more strategic with your time & efforts. It is about removing those distractions that you can control to be more productive. The LESS DISTRACTED you are, the MORE SUCCESSFUL you can be at whatever it is you want to do. BURN BABY, BURN! Like a magnifying glass used to burn a leaf on the concrete from the sun’s rays, you are not nearly as effective if you keep moving the magnifying glass. Burning that leaf will take a lot longer. Distractions are not useful and end up taking up A LOT more time. Yet when you hunker down, eliminating distractions, (less moves more focus), you achieve what you set out to do with potent results. ARE YOU ADDICTED TO DISTRACTION? These days, our society is addicted to distraction. With Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, Pinterest, news feeds, YouTube or other video sites, emails, texts, & apps, how much time do you actually NEED to spend on your electronics? Not only that, but how much do they distract you throughout the day? That notification or text that pops up beckoning you enticingly to check it… Now. I GOT 99 DISTRACTIONS, BUT THIS AIN’T ONE: These distractions begin to live in our thought processes (I’m just going to ‘zone out’ for one minute, then get back to this) our attitudes (I deserve to do this) and ultimately our outlook. We invite these seemingly harmless distractions in, yet unchecked & unharnessed, they can wreak havoc and lukewarm results in the areas of your life you value most. PURPOSEFULLY REFOCUSING: Quality time with family or friends, exercise, reading books, or practicing your passion, get elbowed out of the way bit-by-bit as distractions steal your time and destroy your focus. The extra hour you ‘zoned out’ could have been spent on something of true value that adds to your life. TAKE AWAY: A warm encouragement today, darling, to have less distractions and more focus, to use your time wisely knowing how precious it is, and to be aware of how easy an addiction can become if you are not ‘aware’ & intentional about your time.

A photo posted by Alana Yarbrough (@reachalana) on

 

Sam Ciurdar

You make me feel alive.

A photo posted by SAM CIURDAR (@samciurdar) on

 

Shelby Eastman

A photo posted by Shelby Eastman (@shelbyeastman) on

 

Shon Duras

what should we do today!!? #MakeMyMonday #HelloLab

A photo posted by Shonduras (@shonduras) on

 

Uniq Find

Views #UNIQFINDinspo

A photo posted by @uniqfind on

 

Vincent Carebo

Here’s to 26! I may not be where I want to be but that one way ticket to Asia will hopefully help

A photo posted by Vincent Carabeo (@alohacrabs) on

 

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23 Coveted NYC Coffee Shops Perfect for Instagram Photos

 23 Coveted NYC Coffee Shops Perfect for Instagram Photos

21 Coveted NYC Coffee Shops Perfect for Instagram Photos

The New York coffee scene is incredible for Instagram. Have your pick over penny-tiled floors, white-on-white goodness, marble table tops and more with the NYC coffee shops. Frequent these establishments on any given Saturday and I’m sure you’ll stumble across the likes of Instagram influencers!

On to the list!

East Village

#1 Ost Cafe, East Village

441 East 12th Street, New York, NY 10009

21 Coveted NYC Coffee Shops Perfect for Instagram Photos

Photo Cred: Bloomingdales

 

#2 Ludlow Coffee Supply, East Village

176 Ludlow Street, New York, NY 10002

21 Coveted NYC Coffee Shops Perfect for Instagram Photos

Photo Cred: Themonoclemuse

 

West Village

#3 Bluestone Lane, West Village

55 Greenwich Ave, New York, NY 10014

21 Coveted NYC Coffee Shops Perfect for Instagram Photos

Photo Cred: Stephenmar

#4 Toby’s Estate Coffee, West Village

44 Charles Street, New York, NY 10014

21 Coveted NYC Coffee Shops Perfect for Instagram Photos

Photo Cred: Diannnnneee

 

SOHO

#6 Happy Bones, SOHO

394 Broome Street, New York, NY 10013

23 Coveted NYC Coffee Shops Perfect for Instagram Photos

Photo Cred: Melissamale

 

#7 The Butcher’s Daughter, SOHO

19 Kenmare Street, New York, NY 10012

23 Coveted NYC Coffee Shops Perfect for Instagram Photos

Photo Cred: The Butcher’s Daughter

#8 Greecologies, SOHO

379 Broome Street, New York, NY 10013

23 Coveted NYC Coffee Shops Perfect for Instagram Photos Photo Cred: Greecologies

 

Midtown

 #9 Chailat, Korea Town

1216 Broadway, New York, NY 10001

23 Coveted NYC Coffee Shops Perfect for Instagram Photos

Photo Cred: Foodbabynyc

 

#10 Bluebottle Coffee, Meatpacking

450 W 15th Street, New York, NY 10014

23 Coveted NYC Coffee Shops Perfect for Instagram Photos

Photo Cred: Blue Bottle NY

 

#11 Bluestone Lane, Astor Place

51 Astor Place, New York, NY 10003

23 Coveted NYC Coffee Shops Perfect for Instagram Photos

Photo Cred: Bluestone Lane Coffee 

 

#12 Culture Espresso, Midtown

72 W 38th St, New York, NY 10018

23 Coveted NYC Coffee Shops Perfect for Instagram Photos

Photo Cred: Onemorezoe

Upper East Side

#13 Bluestone Lane Collective, UES

2 E 90th Street, New York, NY 10128

23 Coveted NYC Coffee Shops Perfect for Instagram Photos

Photo Cred: Bluestone Lane Coffee

 

Upper West Side

#14 Irving Farm Coffee Roasters, UWS

224 W 79th Street, New York, NY 10024

23 Coveted NYC Coffee Shops Perfect for Instagram Photos

Photo Cred: Melissa Male

 

Brooklyn

#15 Bakeshop By Woops!, Williamsburg

548 Driggs Ave, Brooklyn NY 11211

23 Coveted NYC Coffee Shops Perfect for Instagram Photos

Photo Cred: Emelina Spinelli

 

#16 Toby’s Estate Coffee, Williamsburg

125 N 6th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11249

23 Coveted NYC Coffee Shops Perfect for Instagram Photos

Photo Cred: Toby’s Estate Coffee

 

#17 Matcha Bar, Williamsburg

93 Wythe Ave, Brooklyn NY 11249

23 Coveted NYC Coffee Shops Perfect for Instagram Photos

Photo Cred: Cryspark

 

#18 Devocion, Williamsburg

69 Grand Street, Brooklyn, NY 11249

23 Coveted NYC Coffee Shops Perfect for Instagram Photos

Photo Cred: Devocion USA

#19 Sweatshop, Williamsburg

262 Meserole Street, Brooklyn, NY 11206

23 Coveted NYC Coffee Shops Perfect for Instagram Photos

Photo Cred: Sweatshop NYC

 

#20 Sweetleaf, Williamsburg

135 Kent Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211

23 Coveted NYC Coffee Shops Perfect for Instagram Photos

Photo Cred: SweetLeafBK

 

#21 Re.Union, Williamsburg

544 Union Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11211

23 Coveted NYC Coffee Shops Perfect for Instagram Photos

Photo Cred: Re.Union

#22 Bakeri, Williamsburg

150 Wythe Ave, Brooklyn NY 11211

23 Coveted NYC Coffee Shops Perfect for Instagram Photos

Photo Cred: Bakeri

 

#23 Ovenly, Greenpoint

31 Greenpoint Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11222

23 Coveted NYC Coffee Shops Perfect for Instagram Photos

Photo Cred: Kithan

#23 Stonefruit Espresso Kitchen, Clinton Hill

1058 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11205

23 Coveted NYC Coffee Shops Perfect for Instagram Photos

Photo Cred: Get Munny

 

If you liked this list, and are looking to grow your Instagram to become an influencer, I have a free video training for you! Sign up and get access to your free Instagram Training here.

Oh! I almost forgot… Come on over to my Instagram and say hi!

 

emelina spinelli instagram

 

Enjoy the list? Have more to add? Let us know in the comments!

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What hashtags should I use for Instagram?

what hashtags should i use for instagram?

 

What hashtags should I use for Instagram?

I get asked this question—constantly.

Everyone wants to know what hashtags to use for their Instagram photos.

 

Some people don’t even really understand what hashtags are. Let me shed some light on the matter.

 

What are Hashtags… actually!?

Hashtags are keywords for social media. Do you know how businesses fight over keywords in Google search to come up as the top rank and on the top page of Google? Hashtags are very similar. Just… without the fighting, and you can’t buy hashtag traffic.

 

You rank higher in the search feed based on how many followers you have, and your engagement rate. The higher your engagement and followers, the higher in the feed you’ll appear. Unlike Google though, hashtags are extremely time sensitive. This means that more than likely, your photo will only show up in the hashtag feed for a few minutes in the huge keywords, or 10-30 minutes in the smaller targeted hashtags.

 

Back to what hashtags are… they’re keywords. This can be really valuable for other people to find you. Mostly, hashtags are used as a search function for users to find more of the content that they like.

 

Now, understanding that hashtags are actually keywords, you’ll put together that you must know your target audience before you go using all the popular tags. The goal isn’t to attract everyone—just the people that would dig your feed, and probably buy from you if you have a business.

 

I recommend that you take the time to research all the hashtags you’re using and see if the feeds are where your prospective followers or clients will be frequenting. This takes time and energy, but it’s well worth it when you have a list of seriously targeted hashtags for your account. The more targeted the tags to your feed, the more targeted followers and engagement you’ll receive (people that actually will want to follow you and comment on your pics).

 

 

How many hashtags can I use?

You can use up to 30 hashtags in a single post. Here’s the catch: you must add the hashtags into your post immediately. They are incredibly time sensitive. If you were to add your tags in an hour later, there may be no point to adding them. You probably won’t get the traffic.

 

Now, you’re probably wondering why all the bigger influencers don’t use hashtags? Don’t be fooled. They all do. They just add all their hashtags into the first comment after they post a photo. This keeps the post relatively clean in their feed, and still gets the benefit of having the search terms.

 

Update May 15th: Instagram is always tweaking the hashtag algorithm. The most effective place to currently put your hashtags is in the description of the post. According to a rep at Instagram, the hashtags need to make sense to the photo. Using hashtags that don’t coordispond to the photo negatively ranks your Instagram algorithm. They said no more then 5 hashtags to use but you can use up to 30 still.

How do I find good hashtags?

Simply, you search and explore for yourself. Go into influencer accounts that you like and see what hashtags they’re using. Look through all the tags and see what the feeds look like. If it looks like something you or your prospective clients or followers would enjoy—then feel free to use them!

 

You can also see what hashtags are popping up in your feed based on things that you love (such as… donuts, coffee, and ice cream). Add those to your hashtag repertoire.

 

 

Why Shouldn’t I just use any hashtag set?

Simply, 99% of hashtags SUCK. They’re riddled with shitty content, poor-quality followers and overall people that won’t engage with your content after they follow you. They’re not really interested in you or what you have to offer. And seriously, these are the majority of the tags out there!

 

Your beautiful photos will just become more noise, and fall in between the cracks and never get noticed. 

We don’t want that!

 

Make sure you’re using higher quality hashtags. Trust me, you’ll know them when you see them. They just make you awe-struck. They’re different for every audience. If you have a luxury-based audience and you’re posting #adventure tags, you’re not going to do very well. These are conflicting audiences.

 

Don’t just use any old hashtag.

 

Really get into the heads of your followers first. Understand them. Get to know what they love, and what they don’t love, and then choose your hashtags based on their tastes.

 

 

Can’t I just use any hashtags no matter what I’m posting?

Nope! Don’t hijack hashtags. For example, if you’re using a coffee related hashtag, make sure your photo is related to coffee. Otherwise, you just piss off people and will totally lose followers. In fact, if you’ve been doing this, you’re probably losing tons of followers and engagement that you could be getting if you would just use related hashtags.

 

Nobody wants to look up #coffeeshoptabletop and see big photos of your selfie in the bathroom, your new pedicure, or the new outfit you just bought. You’ll just piss people off. And this just means that you won’t get engagement or followers.

 

Make sure all your hashtags are RELATED TO YOUR LIFESTYLE. More specifically, make sure the tags are related to the photo that you’re posting with the hashtags. Don’t metaphorically shoot yourself in the foot.

 

I promise this helps. Don’t just use random tags thinking you’ll beat the system. Trust me, you won’t. People are smarter and are looking for relevant, native content based on their interests.

 

 

How do I know what hashtags to use?

First, you must know what your audience is like. This means you have to get down n’ dirty knowing all the nitty gritty facts about your followers, and your prospective buyers. If you are defining your audience, you can download a free workbook on creating your very own buyer personas, here.

 

You’ll want to get to know their interests, hobbies, what they like to eat and drink, and how they spend their free time. Get to know their challenges, values, and beliefs. Once you understand innately who these people are, you can position your content more specifically to reach them. You can post photos of foods they like, drinks, outfits, places and more.

 

But, remember, your feed isn’t really ABOUT YOU. It’s about your followers. And this means you MUST KNOW THEM WELL. This will get you the high-levels of engagement you’re looking for.

 

Yea, I know your celebrity status is fainting at the thought that it’s not about you. It’s just not. When you reach a level of influencership it’s not because you’re so awesome. It’s because you’ve come to STAND FOR SOMETHING that your audience believes in. Your audience comes to associate YOU and YOUR BRAND with that belief system or set of values.

 

(This is branding. Get the full low down and a branding template for free, here.)

 

The stronger the beliefs, and the stronger you know your audience—the more followers you’ll attract and the more influence you’ll gain. It’s a win-win. It does require it’s fair share of work, though.

 

After investing thousands of hours into Instagram, I have a pretty good idea of it!

Passed 10k followers recently! Woohoo!

https://dscience.leadpages.co/understand-your-audience/

 

Back to the hashtags…

You’re going to want to use hashtags that your audience frequents. Use the tags that resonate with their values, interests and beliefs. This will require some investigation and exploration on your part!

 

I get it… but what hashtags can I use to start?

Okay, I know you’re reading this entire article just looking for a set of tags. Even though I’m giving you marketing gold. The type of online marketing wisdom that I invested over 10,000 hours of my life learning, and well over $300,000.

 

But, I get it. You want the easy way out. You just want some tags to start that will actually do something for you.

 

Okay, I’ll give you some. But only if you promise that you’ll actually invest in learning about your audience and catering the tags and your content to them—OKAY!?

 

I know you actually care about making a difference, so you’ll do the work.

With that, here are some tags you can use in the meantime.

 

#igdaily #picoftheday #photooftheday #best_photogram #darlingweekend #momentslikethese #coffeecoffeecoffee #coffeelovers #chasinglight #best_photogram #instatravel #fwis #fwisfeed #coffeeshoptabletop #coffeeshopcorners #justgoshoot #kinfolk #liveauthentic #livemore #vscocam #portraitcommunity #portraitperfection #postthepeople #neverstopexploring #adventureawaits#butfirstcoffee #morningslikethese #myminiatlas

Do I have to write all the tags each time I post?

Yes and No. Take this list and copy it into your notepad. Then from there you can paste it into your posts.

I have a super secret method for you below though, that will give you hundreds of tags ready to go for you based on interests. It’s pretty freakin’ awesome if I do say so!

 

 

Is there an easy place to find all the hashtags without doing all the work?

Yes. And I’ll tell you more about that in a sec.

 

I have a specific hashtag formula that I use in 3 parts to create the best case scenario for my own account. This method has attracted over 10,000 followers to my Instagram!

 

I also have a few hundred hashtags ready to go for myself that I use to diversify the keywords I’m using. I have many sets of specific hashtags to target my audience specifically and attract like-minded people to my account. It’s golden and has helped me tremendously in gaining over 10k followers.

 

I bet you’re wondering what this is!?

I created an ebook with all the hashtags ready to go that I use frequently for myself and my clients.

 

There are over 240+ high-quality hashtags ready to use for your account. They’re organized perfectly into interest categories so you can target the right clients and the right followers.

 

I even made a hashtag SWIPE FILE FOR YOUR PHONE with pre-made sets of 30 tags (all with the specific formula I use for targeting!). You download the swipe file to your phone and instantly have loads of great hashtags at your fingertips.

 

It makes this process much easier, and you won’t have to spend as much time doing the research.

So how much do you think this little gem is!?

 

The ebook is $11. I like to keep things reasonable. Is $11 worth saving yourself a boatload of time trying to figure out all these hashtags!? Hell Yes!

 

You can purchase and download the Instagram Lover’s Guide to Hashtags, here.

Let me know how you like it, and how it helps!

what hashtags should i use for instagram?

If you’re looking for more training, I have a free 90-minute Instagram training video that you can get access to, here. Over 500 people have taken the video training series and are getting terrific growth and results because of it!

 

Download your free 90-minute Instagram video training here.

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Oh my! I almost forgot to share my account with you amazing loves! If you enjoyed this article and are looking for more constant Instagram inspiration, please pop over and follow my account. I engage and comment a ton! I love talking to people. Please come on over and say hi!

 

Visit my Instagram here: http://instagram.com/ecspinelli

what hashtags should i use for instagram?

 

Have any other tips or frequently asked questions around hashtags? Let us know in the comments!

 

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Why Having Influence Buys You Freedom

Why having influence buys you freedom.

What if you could buy time, options, opportunities and freedom. Would You?

 

I believe that motivated entrepreneurs can live life on their terms—hustling hard and playing even harder. Through my years in marketing and the startup world (more on that later), I realized that the only way to REALLY have control over your life is to build up a brand, influence and give SO MUCH VALUE to others that people seek you out for work and opportunities.

 

Hence… why being an influencer is so important to so many people.

 

Influence buys you time, opportunities, options and freedom.

We all want influence. The thing is, we can’t all have it. It’s there for the people that choose to take it, work for it, earn it through giving value and building trust.

 

To be an influencer you must be an incredible communicator.

You know EXACTLY what value you bring to the table, and you can sell it.

 

Well, this isn’t always the easiest. It’s almost easier to grow a 10k IG following than it is to KNOW without a shadow of a doubt and communicate your real value.

 

What qualifies as influence?

We can look at influence on a small scale, and then a large.

First, influence sells.

 

You’re wondering where to go out to dinner tonight. You call up a friend that you trust, and ask where they’ve been to dinner and where they would recommend. They tell you and you book a reservation.

 

This is influence on the small scale. You could have a friend that is the “go to” for nights out on the town because they LOVE to have a good time and party. So, you always ask them when you’re interested in having this sort of experience.

 

This is influence. On the small scale, this friend of yours in your 5-person friend group—has been deemed the “expert” of “best nights out.”

 

The same scenario applies to social media celebrities and influencers across all platforms.

 

You give value (in our previous scenario… the best places to go out) frequently in a niche (singular, defined topic) and then people begin to associate you with that defined topic. Now, whenever someone thinks of the said topic, they think of you!

 

This is a form of personal branding and thought leadership. Mostly, it’s building influence.

 

Why build influence? What’s all the hype and the big deal?

Well, for one you’re the “cool kid” in your group of friends. And that always makes people feel good. But really, what’s the point in building influence through social media on a large scale? Maybe you’re asking—what can you possibly gain from people trusting your judgment and experience-based-opinion??
Influence buys options.

Let me say it again. Seriously. Influence will buy you options.

 

If you enjoy not having much control or direction over your life and you’re happy working no-name desk jobs where if you were replaced… no one would notice… then keep at it, this won’t be for you.

 

When you build influence you become IRREPLACEABLE.

You’re now “one-of-a-kind” in the minds of others.

 

Simply put, this means you won’t ever be left out, and people will always try to be around you and surround themselves with your brilliance. And, many people have this. It’s really just whether or not you exercise your own influence, how often, and how many people CARE about what you say and act on it.

 

Either way, when you’re irreplaceable, you get more opportunities.

People invite you to events you otherwise wouldn’t be invited to, you get offered jobs that would never otherwise be offered, you make friends that otherwise would be disinterested…

 

And when you GAIN INFLUENCE ON SOCIAL MEDIAS…

Brands approach you, to work with you… that would NEVER approach you otherwise.

 

You see, when you earn influence, you earn attention.

And everyone wants attention.

 

In fact, big businesses and brand PAY FOR ATTENTION.

The attention is bought in the form of advertising, promotion, marketing, publicity, social marketing and then of course influence marketing.

 

Using influencers that believe in a product or brand to talk about the brand raises EVEN MORE ATTENTION to the brands. In a sense, it’s native advertising.

 

So, for example: in addition to buying that big LED-lit billboard in Times Square, H&M will give out clothes to, and pay Instagram, Snapchat and Vine influencers to wear the cloths and post about their experience.

 

This is because, in the example—H&M knows that influence makes sales: real sales and concrete sales, even more than advertising.

 

Why?

Because influence is a recommendation from a trusted friend. If you trust them, and they say this dress is stellar, and it’s great for going out for a night on the town (or whatever it is) and you relate to the experience… then you pick up the dress!

 

The sale is made, quickly.

This is the value in having influence.

 

Thoughts or comments? Let me know in the comments section!

 

How to Create Stunning Content for Your Instagram

How to create stunning content for your instagram account

 

How to Create Stunning Content for Your Instagram.

If you were wondering where to spend your time in social media this year, look at Instagram and Snapchat. I’ve been rocking Insta for just over a half year now. What I can say, is that I’ve gotten amazing results.

 

Not only have I hacked and grown my account fairly rapidly, but I’ve also made sales on my ebooks and courses. Instagram at this point is indeed revenue generating. I’m incredibly happy that I invested my time into Instagram (and still do!). My goal is 200,000+ followers on Insta and a super engaged community. Now, that may take a year or two but I’m fully committed to making it happen.

 

Why? It opens up opportunities.

 

Having just 8,000 followers has already opened up an incredible amount of exposure and opportunities, I can only imagine all the abundance I will receive, staying in the platform.

 

Now that you’re at least thinking of getting on to Instagram, or stepping up your game—let’s figure out how to make some stellar content!

 

People ask me all the time what to post. Obviously, this is going to vary person to person. However, there are some key formulaic ways to go about it that will more than likely get your account some attention.

 

Even though every account is different—there are types of photos, and a variety of those types that tend to do well.

 

In this article, I’m reviewing the stylistic photos to incorporate and add into your account. If you’re looking for growth hacking your account like a boss, check out my article, here.

 

Now, this isn’t the case for every successful account. However, if you’re just looking for an easy formula to implement that will do more than well, here’s your chance.

 

How to create stunning content for your instagram account

Environmental Bliss.

Have you ever heard of “establishing shots” in movies? Essentially, it’s the establishing scene shots. They’re usually a culmination of the environment, or wherever the action is taking place.

 

It gives the viewer a sense of inclusion in the scene and understanding of the overall picture.

This can apply to your Instagram account too.

 

Give your environment some love. Take shots of your favorite streets or buildings. If you have access to a rooftop, climb up and get that coveted bird-eye shot. Have a bigger budget? Jump in a helicopter as a passenger for 15 minutes (I know it’s pricey, but I’m totally doing this when I get back to NYC).

 

Whatever your environment, the point is to set some establishing shots.

Personally, I drop in an environment shot every 6th photo, or so.

 

How to create stunning content for your instagram account

Portraiture.

If you’ve seen my Instagram account, you’ve probably noticed that I’m kind of obsessed with portraits.

 

I love being able to capture happiness, silliness, snarkiness, suggestion, calm confidence—you name it. Getting a split-second moment of that positive emotion on someone’s face, just makes me happy. It’s a chance to capture their real personality.

 

You can see the variety of compositional portrait shots in this article: crush your Instagram portraits like a supermodel.

 

If you like the idea of posting lots of different people on your account, try this out! If you want more of you in your account, find a buddy to take the portraiture of you! You can even grab your fair amount of selfies. Just don’t post every pic of yourself… that gets boring fast.

 

How to create stunning content for your instagram account

Café Trips and Latte Shots.

They’ll never grow old. You could create an entire feed of lattes and you’d gain hoard of coffee loving followers. Obviously, if you don’t drink coffee, don’t post it, or find an alternative. You’re looking to at least remain authentic 😉

 

There is something to be said about Americans and their beverages. If you can, include some sort of a bevy here and there, it makes you relatable. Whether it’s coffees, teas, matcha, espresso, juices, smoothies, cocktails, or prosecco, you have options.

 

 

Salivating Food Shots.

There are hundreds if not thousands of Instagram accounts dedicated to food. I don’t post food to often, but if you love food and sharing it, do it! There are loads of communities dedicated to even specific types of food.

 

If you’re at a dope restaurant with some swanky food and it’s well lit, grab a shot!

 

How to create stunning content for your instagram account

A Defined Lifestyle.

Your life has style. Maybe you haven’t noticed yet. Sometimes we take for granted things that we just appreciate or are just “us.”

 

Are you an adventure junkie? Make sure this comes across in your feed. Your photos could be some on the way to that new mountain in the car, to the ascent, beautiful scenery, and then rock climbing shots.

 

Are you a fashionista? Build a feed that reflects this. You can post photos of accessories, your shoes, styled outfits laid out on the floor, fashion houses, runway shows and more.

 

Do you love to travel? Create a feed around all the places you have been and you’re dying to go. Post photos of your favorite spots, and those that remind you of stories (and tell the stories).

 

how to create stunning content for your instagram 

Your Point of View.

Here’s your chance to show your point of view (either looking at the floor, or a table top). Shots from your view looking down at the floor or a table top are trending on Instagram. They are well loved by Instagrammers alike.

 

The next time you see a stellar design or mosaic floor grab a sweet shot! And if you can match your shoes to the floor or add some swagger, you’ll get even more momentum.

 

 

An Accessorized Life.

Adding little details into your photos can make a difference. We all have accessories. Some of us have killer watches, other’s have some serious bling, some have glasses, chic bags, painted nails, beautiful jewelry, or just great style.

 

Add the accessories into your photos. You can even add photos into your account that are detail shots focused on your wrists (bracelets, watches etc.) or your bag, shoes, phone, and more.

 

Table Top Shots.

It might be cliché, but those table top shots are on fleek.

 

Grab your phone, and take a pic from above the table. The photo could be of food, your favorite latte, a phone and tech accessories, or your essentials. Whatever it may be, add a table top shot or flatlay shot into your feed at least occasionally.

 

 

Enjoy dressing up your Instagram account with these iconic photograph styles!

Have more styles in mind that you’ve noticed? Let us know in the comments!

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