Let me start by saying that I’m not a big fan of putting much content of myself out there – as a natural introvert like me, building your personal brand is such a challenge.
If you commit yourself to put out high-quality content on a daily basis, it’s even tougher.
That said, has somebody told you it was going to be easy?
If you’re looking for a magic wand that all of a sudden will make your account hit 1 million followers, you’re not going to find it in this article.
If you’re willing to grind, if you’re eager to put in the work, and you’re looking for some way to optimise your efforts to get the most out of them – then you came to the right place.
Just to make sure that there’s no misunderstanding, answer this question: why do you want to grow your account?
If your answer is: “I just wanna be the most popular among my friends”… It’s not going to work out.
I tell you this because I myself and several of my clients started like that.
“I’m going to kill it on this Instagram thing so that I’ll get money, girls, and so and so forth.”
It’s not a number game, pal.
It’s just about building deep relationships with your followers and make them trust you.
We’re not playing for the short-term outcome. We’re here for the long run.
Are you ambitious enough to put in so much work without a quick return?
If you really feel ambitious, this is the way you got to step.
In 2018, it’s a no-brainer how crucial it is to get a significant exposure on Instagram. If you’ve been wondering how much money there is in the industry, go back to my old article about the Influencer Marketing size.
Here’s the thing – what marketers do is to meet people where they’re most likely to be to grab their attention. And in 2018, that place is called Instagram.
The process is straightforward – you earn their attention -> you win their trust -> then, only then, you make money (as long as you don’t fool them).
Again, if your priority is money and you need it as soon as possible – just focus on something quicker, and come back when you’re ready.
The opportunity is real; you just have to figure out if you want to take a shot or not.
If you don’t, please don’t be jealous when you watch influencers’ Instagram stories in Bali or LA – chances are that they worked hard to get there.
“Yeah, gotcha… But what are you talking about? What should I do?”
Drum roll (even though the title doesn’t help me)…
A 365 challenge!
What does it consist of?
It’s pretty easy – document your 2018 through your Instagram feed, day to day.
It’s not only about taking high-quality pictures on a daily basis (which is a hell of a job, trust me) but also investing time in crafting thoughtful captions, picking out the right hashtags, and engaging with your followers.
“I’m not gonna do so much stuff for nothing.”
Oh yeah, I feel you. I don’t like to work for free either.
But although we’re not getting paid soon, this challenge will provide us with a few notable benefits – such as:
Community: since you’ll be posting every day at the same time, your followers will be waiting for your content to be uploaded. They will be ready to drop a comment below your pictures and give their thoughts about your day;
Exposure: being every day on your followers’ feed means exposure. As soon as they get used to seeing you every day, they will crave your updates. If you were a brand, would you try to place your products in these updates and see what happens?
Boost: as we already said, you followers will crave to see your updates. If you post every day at the same time, they will go to your feed almost automatically and like/comment your pic. I still have to write an article about the Instagram algorithm, but it’s going to love this challenge – basically, the more engagement you get, the higher chances you stand to make it in the explore page (which means more and more followers).
Skills: this is probably my favorite benefit. Lately, I got into photography pretty seriously, so committing myself to publish a pic per day means that I’ll have to take and edit pictures every day! I would never do it if it weren’t for building my personal brand;
Challenge: I don’t know about you, but I do perform better under pressure. I got more inspired, and rely on my creativity. I’ll be busy with Edith Media’s development, my personal brand (social media and YouTube) and my private clients… No excuses!
So far we explained why it’s so important to accept this challenge and document your 2018 on Instagram… but we need a strategy!
I’m a pretty practical guy – if I need to get somewhere, I just want to be ready to face difficulties and not to kill myself to keep my word.
Here’s my plan, it’d be constructive to get some advice or to read your thoughts about it. Anyway:
1. Keep a few pics in reserve: if you want to commit yourself to put out a pic per day, you’ll undoubtedly face some problems during the execution. 365 days is such a long time window, and unexpected events are around the corner. Just be ready to encounter these issues.
2. Idea Factory: I stole this name from Dan Norris, even though his idea is slightly different – write down 260 subjects that you can talk about confidently. Anytime nothing happens in your life and you don’t know what to write about, just pick out one of these subjects and produce content: posts, stories, etc.
3. Hashtags: they are crucial, no matter what. I’ll write an article about them as soon as possible, but if you want to get a substantial exposure and grow your audience – you have to pick out the right ones. Have a look at displaypurposes.com; it comes extremely handy.
4. Content Buddy: you can’t maintain the highest quality doing everything on your own. You’d better find someone to produce content with (you shot him some cool pic and vice-versa), or merely outsource some gig to freelancers. I’d recommend you going to fiverr.com or upwork.com to find reliable graphic designers or copywriters.
5. Be punctual: the best way to encourage your followers to crave your content every day is always publishing at the same time. If you’re not ready to commit, just start scheduling your content – I’d suggest Onlypult or Hootsuite (if you manage several accounts).
Well, this is the end.
Whatever you will invest your time in in 2018, make sure not to forget that nowadays social media is an inherent part of our culture.
People spend so much time on it, and if you’re a marketer or want to make a living out of the Internet – you need to get a loyal audience.
Instead of complaining – test everything, test desperately.
Reach me out if you need some advice or if you’re struggling with your personal brand. Let’s get it!
There’s still room enough to get into the market and kill it. Social Media is here to stay; it’s not going anywhere – in a few years, it’s going to be waaaaaaaay more influential than now.
Stop complaining, just put in the work.