From my short few years
building an online presence I have learned a few tips and lessons I wish
someone had told me from the start. This past year I have got to work with over
30 incredible brands, got to travel to California with my favourite clothing
store, attended blogger events and openings, but most importantly I gained
confidence and happiness by sharing my thoughts and photos with readers. I know
some of you are probably thinking I am going beyond my britches offering advice
when I myself am not insanely successful on my online endeavours... but I have
gotten to a place where I feel like at least I am being heard somewhat, that’s
why someone runs an Instagram or blog isn’t it? May you agree or not, below I
will discuss (in a bit of a messy format) what worked for me as someone who
wanted to share my love of beauty and fashion with others.
You have to start
somewhere. Everyone has to start somewhere, even the big “beauty gurus” that
are raking in millions started with no followers. An example I like to use is
when I was young and first began blogging, a blog called “schoee.blogspot.com”
and I followed each other. She only had a few hundred more readers than me and we
posted the same sort of content. I gave up blogging after being discouraged
that no one was reading my content. I came to find out a few years later that the
other blogger was Zoe Sugg, who now runs the Zoella online empire that I am
sure you’ve all heard of. Moral of the story is keep going and sharing what you’re
passionate about even if you feel like you’re not being heard, just like she
did. If you want to begin blogging I suggest using blogspot.com, it’s very easy
to use and free.
Make a name and stick
with it. If you want to build an online presence I found it was important to
use one name on all social media platforms and to leave out any numbers/characters
if possible. Something catchy or maybe just your own name. You want people to
remember it and it’s how you’ll be recognized. I don’t think I have the best
name but people seem to remember it and the name was available for me to own on Instagram
and .com domain. Consider making a twitter, snapchat, blog, Instagram,
pinterest, email, WHATEVER you want to utilize.
It’s ok to not let
real life friends know. When I first became committed to instagramming and
blogging I was really embarrassed for people I knew in real life to see what I
was doing. I felt like they’d make fun of my thoughts and photos or think I was
being full of myself for trying to build up my platforms. I made separate accounts
from my personal ones (and even went as far to block everyone I could possibly
think of from them) and carried on that way. Younger me felt this way out of
fear of being made fun of but now that I am older I realize no one is going to
make fun of me (or even care hah). If you're too worried people will bully you don't let them hold you back from doing something you enjoy.
Connect with the city
you live in (if you’re comfortable with that). For over a year of running my
blog and Instagram I didn’t disclose where I was from. As soon as I did I was
contacted by my local mall to write a feature for them. Engage with local
brands, restaurants, and services (tagging them in photos, writing reviews,
etc). People enjoy following others who live where they do because you’re more
relatable and can show them new things to do and see around their home. Even
just letting readers know I was from Canada helped both new Canadian readers
and brands engage me.
Take advantage of
everything that comes your way. If you’ve been working at it a while brands or
events may begin to contact you. It’s very exciting when this starts to happen (and
I guarantee with hard work this will happen… if you’re PASSIONATE about what
you’re doing and not just trying to get free stuff). Collab with as many as
possible and go to every event you can. When I began getting contacted by local
brands/store openings I turned down quite a few because I was too nervous and
shy. Honestly, I still turn down invites because I am too nervous to interact
with new people without a friend with me (ugh don’t get me started on some of
the amazing stuff I have chickened out
on). I believe the best way to build up connections and platforms is grab
whatever comes your way and enjoy the ride, so hopefully you’ll be better at
this than me!
Instagram tips that have helped me:
- Post frequently
- Follow, like, and comment on other pages like yours
- Take quality photos with good lighting… there are lots of tips online for this
- Have a “theme” to your page (use the same settings/filters on all your images)
- Look at other pages for inspiration on how to take photos
- Don’t go overboard on the hashtags, but utilize a select few that are relevant to your image
- Engage brands by tagging them when you post a photo relating to them (may it be your food at their restaurant, clothing from a local brand, makeup you’re using, etc)
- Try to add your own original “vibe” (cringing at my use of that word) to your page, it keeps people coming back.
- Post photos of you! People want to know who they’re following. This is hard for me because I don’t often like photos of myself and feel weird posting them but give the people what they want (hahh).
- Make sure your email or contact button is in your profile description.
- Do some research on how to take nice product photos/flat lays.
- Generally be an active user but do not spam people.
- Avoid buying followers and likes. To be honest, when I first made my IG I bought 1,000 followers for 50 cents. This was helpful in kick starting my Instagram and I will still recommend this to new users. Those 1,000 users I bought have long been deleted by Instagram for being inactive but their impact was helpful in gaining my first real followers (people are inclined to follow someone they see other people liking). Besides doing this I would avoid buying any fake likes and followers because it’s obvious and not gaining you any real engagement.
- Have fun! Don’t let posting be a chore, you’re here to share content with others because you enjoy it.
- Have variety to your images.
- Let people know your other social media account usernames.
- By engaging brands they may post your image on their page, take advantage of that! Brands are always looking for content to post on social media and very often use tagged/hashtagged photos of them.
- When you see a famous instagrammer they didn't just snap all these photos in a second, there's a lot of time that goes behind the images so don't think it comes to them easy or else you'll feel discouraged when taking your own photos
- Learn from successful instagrammers that you like, what does their page have that attracts people to it?
I hope you've found a bit of this helpful, I plan to write more post like this but more specific to certain topics. My next one will be about setting up your first blog ;)
