Many people have been asking me how to sell products/Services on Instagram, get the blue tick mark, get Instagram verified, make money on Instagram, and Of course, How do I become an Influencer?
Before we jump right into it, the critical question is why Instagram is not Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn?
Why Instagram?
It doesn’t matter if you have got a zero value, zero-like, or zero followers on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube. This could be because those platforms rarely give you a chance to get visible to a large audience at once. After you lose hope out of these platforms, embrace Instagram! Instagram is not a platform for boring or dis-interesting content. It has been the most preferred and likable social media portal to be on. Knowing how to make a career from Instagram could perhaps motivate you to become a full-time Instagrammer.
What has Facebook or Twitter given someone in return after reaching 1 Million followers? Probably nothing! Whereas several opportunities have been generated to users on Instagram to earn even with 10K followers.
1. WHO CAN BECOME AN INFLUENCER?
Well, not everyone! Unless you are dedicated and engrossed in an activity that can help others, attract others, and truly work hard on it to make a matter the brand. Don’t get confused; for instance, you are deciding on joining the gym, what would you get in return? Only a good body shape; no fame, no money, nothing! Make it your passion; get engrossed in it unless you build very appealing muscles; daily post the same on Instagram. Now the question that arises is, What can you post on Instagram? Not just body-building pics; otherwise, people would get bored of seeing similar images every time. Make it refreshing every time you post.
Example – Several Fitness Images To Post:
- Workout Images
- Images While You Eat Healthy Meal or BreakFast
- Picture Anywhere In Restaurant
- Partying Somewhere
- Doing Outdoor Activities and more
Make sure every Image you take reveals your charm of yours, and your personality should out-stand compared to others, and that’s your Iconic Look.
Post such images with proper and trending # hashtags to gain more likes and followers too. It sounds difficult, but your passion can make it happen – Cross 1 Million numbers of followers. Now you can call yourself an influencer!
2. What Are You Good In?
Know yourself before you move to learn how to become an influencer , For instance, Fitness, Fashion, Beauty, Cook, Design, etc. If you are not good at anything, explore your skills and possibilities of what you can happily love to do.
For example, You like writing, but Instagram is not about content writing. Still, you can make a career out of it. Write Informative and Inspirational quotes over a relevant background image.
This would definitely give you a consistent number of followers. Avoid repetitive or similar content, taking it as a condition.
3. Select Your Niche – Don’t Make Your Account a HothcPotch
A confused Mixture would make people jumbled to assume what your account is about. Instagram’s profile description should clearly specify your interest and offerings to make users intend to follow you.
Once you know what you are good at, incorporate your ideas through posts. Before you move ahead, make your account’s bio appealing to let others understand what your account really talks about. If Fitness is your passion, make it your niche and begin the Instagram journey with relevant videos and photos in the form of posts.
Here is the successful Fitness based Instagram account of Kayla Itsines with impressive posts that accumulated huge followers.
If you are into beauty, make-up, or love promoting branded products, here’s an inspiring example with 50+ Million Followers:
Are You an Employee, Professor, Specialist, or a Lawyer?
Still, Instagram Is good for you.
Unless one is too popular elsewhere, one can expect a few followers and fame over Instagram. This is because Instagram users get attracted to Images, Videos, and Quotes! No one would be interested in what you are selling or what you want to offer. An intense or boring field can be made more interesting by posting previous successful projects, some relevant, inspirational quotes, leisure time spent with folks, helpful analytics and statics from the web, reposting popular and trendy videos on Instagram through ‘Repost For Instagram’ or similar app.
Here’s the astounding post of Dr. Mike Varshavski with 4+ Million Follower
4. Decide Whether You’d Be The Active Player In The Game
Instagram is not about ‘Give-Up‘ then ‘Chase.’ It is more about being ‘Consistent‘ and ‘Fascinating.’ If you cannot give the best of the time for Instagram, don’t participate! The frequency to post should be around 3-4 posts every week. Going for daily activity would be productive for existing and potential fans. Being more than active on Instagram can lead to one of the recommended activities to verify your account with a blue tick mark.
5. Learn How To Post On Instagram – Widen Up Your Reach Using ShoutOuts & Tags
a. Describe Photo Post Jovially
b. Mention ShoutOut E.g., @HijabFashionEve Where You Want Users To Look At
c. Incorporate Trending # HashTags – But Be Relevant:: This Would Give More Impressions, Likes and Followers Hopefully
d. Tag Others or a Brand With The Image
e. Describe Product Completely If Posted a Photo Of It – E.g., Posted Evening MakeUp Video: Mention Foundation, Eye-shade, Palette, Brush, etc. used. Do mention ‘Inspired By’ as best of knowledge for viewers.
6. How Can You Gain More Popularity On Instagram?
i. Be Quicky:: IG is more of trends that keep changing every day. You’ve got to be in the race!
ii. Post-Things-Of-Interest:: Post what others would like, not what you like!
iii. Become a Secret Entertainer:: Don’t get too serious about Posting. Posting. Posting! Take a breath as a break, and post a video that entertains your audience!
iv. Post’s Participation In Trends:: Let your post participate in trends (popular posts), adding trendy # hashtag in the caption. Initially, this can be a bit difficult; once you accumulate fans, it would be easier to pop up. #Hashtag plays a vital role in gaining popularity even though you got no followers.
v. Reply Instantly: Quick replies to comments can impress the commenter. Plus, users can guess how active you are.
7. Consider Instagram Posts & Activities as an Investment
Prior engrossing in how to make a career from Instagram, accept positive consideration that always keeps you motivated in the work you do. Don’t set your mind as you are wasting time posting stuff on IG. Structure your posts and profile in such a way that gives back their value. Sooner or later, you’d build up your own brand, which would drive a handsome return to your pocket.
– IF YOU ARE UNIQUE AND GENUINE – VERIFY YOUR INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT
Who doesn’t want a verified blue tick mark next to the username? Well, everyone does. Overcoming in following-up how to make a career from Instagram, you need to do a verification of authenticity:
1. Describe Bio With Real Profile Image
2. Mention Website You Got In URL
3. Add your own Instagram # hashtag or @ username in bio
4. Make Your Presence on Other Social Media viz. Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest
5. Make Sure Your Website Is Updated and Not a Scam
6. Make Weekly or Daily Posts On all Social Accounts
7. Post Weekly On Blog or Site You’ve Got
8. Confirm Your Genuineness By Replying To Comments You Receive
9. Switch Your Account To Business – If You Prefer To Be a Brand or Business
10. Add Email Account Where Users Can Contact You
11. Most Important – Post Original Content On Instagram, Avoid Copying Others or Impersonating Others Existence
12. Get You Presence On YouTube To Make Your Verification Process Much Easier
13. Be Very Active On Instagram In-Regards To Posts, Comments and Requests Received
14. Make Yourself an Influencer, So You Get Impersonated – This Is How You Are Recognized as a Popular and Authentic Identity
Once you reach the criteria, request Instagram for verification.
How to Make Money from Instagram
How to make money From Instagram is being explored and resulted into more than 60 Million times. You can imagine how popular it is getting at the initial stage. Making money on Instagram has gone tremendously crazy these days. Instagram has become an ultimate platform for influencers to get more popular and reach higher returns per post. You may or may not know some influencers earning Millions just from Instagram.
Reaching 1 Million followers target is not mandatory to start earning; you can earn from 10K followers. You would be a Micro-Influencer with a specific niche, particular target market, and moderate followers.
1. Sell Instagram Shoutouts
Shoutouts is an IG marketing trick where you mention a user’s profile @exampleuser with a photo of his product that the user wants to promote. This would accumulate likes to that posted picture, and people would visit the user’s profile for more details and further purchase items. You get paid to mention the user’s Instagram account profile and Image on your account. Basically, it’s tagging the payer’s profile with Image.
Shoutouts is one of the best methods if you ask how to make money from Instagram impressively.
Note: To make money from Instagram, you should have at least 10K followers on your account. An account with 1 Million + followers would give a minimum of $50 per post/shoutouts. At 10K Followers, you deserve $5-$10 per shoutouts/post.
Who Can Ask Influencers For Shoutouts? Big Brands and Small Businesses as well if they’ve got a good budget.
2. Selling Your Own Product (If any)
The majority of small businesses explore for digital promotion of products—the most preferred portals to promote products after Google are Instagram and Pinterest. Basically, selling products on Instagram is easier for influencers than for Businesses. This is because Influencers got huge fan followings and popularity. This makes it smooth to sell out any product promoting on their accounts. Tha’s one of the reasons why influencers start their own brand products and make money. Some Influencers with popularity and Own Branded Products @ChiaraFerragni @HudaBeauty & @Virat.Kohli; Entrepreneurs need to post on Instagram with Interesting and Relevant Post Content to gain massive followers. Further, they can incorporate product links in the profile bio section to let users hit and make purchases.
3. Sellout Stock Pictures (post watermarked)
This is rarely seen on Instagram. It may or may not become a demanding method on Instagram, especially for those looking to buy pictures for websites, blogs, and other purposes. If you are a graphic designer, digital designer, or digital artist, this can make you earn a handsome amount in 2 ways. First, Shoutouts! Secondly, Posting Stock Images (with watermark) so people can visit your site and buy your favorite Image. To make this happen, generating an impressive fan following isn’t enough; you got to make your own Brand and Blog about the same to capture the hearts of design lovers and explorers.
Note: Post more about designing, art, paint, graphics, design software, apps, sites, and more to gain followers.
5. Sell Instagram Account (Optional)
Dealing with 10K followers and deciding to sellout an account won’t be too much of a hassle. Note you put too much effort and years into gaining followers. Selling an account won’t be worth it. If you have decided never to be on Instagram, this could be a good option. You never know when your quality content can drive millions of followers after you sell. Instead of regression, make a clear decision to work more on Instagram in different ways.