You can make money online not only here on Steemit, but also on INSTAGRAM! Have you tried it yet?? Tons of people have been reaching out to me on Insta DM and Kik, asking how I grew so big... My husband and I have over 200K followers on 2 of our business accounts: (Current stats of our luxury business account...) ![Screen Shot 2017-07-21 at 11.47.59.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmeW6twU4GzqXz8jXn8QPAoFAjKD9R2yf2UkfFUBKnc9X1/Screen%20Shot%202017-07-21%20at%2011.47.59.png) (Current stats of our travel business account...) ![Screen Shot 2017-07-21 at 11.47.36.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmUiQ8uVbMRXE9nfJ5NECw2Yk5iMRedbHpFiwMkpGwb9FH/Screen%20Shot%202017-07-21%20at%2011.47.36.png) ...and I want to share HOW we did this, here on Steemit!! You ready? I hope this helps! Feel free to resteem, and share it with anyone you’d like. 😊 With that, LET’S GET STARTED! The FIVE things we're going to cover today: 1. Why instagram? 🤔 2. Content is king 👑 3. Hashtags 🔍 4. Consistency 🔑 5. Your network = Your netWORTH 💰 ![horizontal4.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmeFDXsZM9Nr5mMr9emW7NLhpEMPrWLxwZ53pcWqRwyGtF/horizontal4.png) 1) WHY INSTAGRAM? One question I hear a lot is “why instagram?” Instagram has over 500,000,000 monthly users. Including 100,000,000+ that are actively involved on it daily. It has the fastest growing user base of all social media. It is by far the hottest social media platform right now, and is considered one of the best places to advertise, connect, and generate revenue. In addition, it is user friendly, easy to use and grow, and produces amazing content. Instagram has poised itself to be potentially the most influential social media site in the near future. If you don’t have an Instagram account... GET ONE! 💁🏼 2) CONTENT IS KING. ATTENTION: If there is a single most important key to Instagram, it is content. So pay attention to this next point. UNDERSTAND THIS. LEARN THIS. MASTER THIS: You have about 1-3 seconds to capture the attention of your potential followers. Which means, when someone clicks on your page, that someone needs to be impressed with your content within 3 seconds, or else they will click out of it. Riiight?? 🤗 And as soon as they click out, it is 7-10 times harder to get them back. You have lost credibility. 😭 So... Ask yourself, “HOW am I captivating my audience and drawing them IN?" Create amazing content. People like CLEAN-looking content. On personal brands, they like relatable/real content. Make sure your posts are: ✅ Clean/sharp ✅ Not blurry ✅ Consistent in style and color/filter ✅ Has proper lighting ✅ Has no spelling errors When making Instagram posts, you have to create content that people will relate to, or that will draw people in. Think about it... If you typically have super fuzzy pictures, or boring words that relate to no one but yourself, who is going to want to follow you? Be different. Think outside the box... 📦 There are tens of thousands of accounts in each niche. Why should someone follow your page versus following another page? “Because I want them to” is not a good enough reason. ;) 3) HASHTAGS 🔍 Content is what keeps people on your page once they find it. 👌 Hashtags (just like keywords here on Steemit) are what allows other people to find you. Content + Hashtags used together are critical. Hashtags are the most effective way to get your content out there, and allow people to find you. 🕵🏻 What does using a hashtag accomplish/how does it work? When you use a hashtag on your Instagram post, you are labeling (or categorizing) your photo in that category... Just like Steemit does. That category also has every other post with that hashtag in it, and you are competing with them for attention. Sooo, how do I determine which hashtags to use? Research. 💻 Most people believe that using the most popular hashtags is the best way to gain exposure. "Just use the most popular hashtags and more people will see it." FALSE! 🙅 Unless you are a very large account (1M+), using the most popular hashtags a lot of times has little to no effect on the engagement of your post. Why? Because you are competing with 10s of millions of other posts just like that... So keep that in mind! I am not saying don’t ever use popular hashtags... But! When big hashtags are all you use, you will be disappointed with the results because your post will get lost in mere seconds on the # explore page and your awesome post will not have the opportunity for other users to see it. 😢 So, what type of research do I need to do? Keep in mind, you are allowed 30 hashtags per post. (Yes, there is a hack that allows you to have more, but it looks like spammy crap and the results really aren’t much better.) I strongly suggest you utilize all 30 of those hashtags as it will give you maximum exposure and visibility. When researching hashtags, you want to look for 3 things: 💁 1. The number of uses that hashtag has. You want to make sure that you are using hashtags with ALL levels of uses: 10k all the way up to 50M. 2. The engagement on the posts using that hashtag. 3. The quality/style of pictures using that hashtag. So, take 5 hours one afternoon, get yourself a cup of coffee, or drink of choice. ☕️ Sit down... Open up Excel or Numbers or Google Spreadsheets... And prepare to research until your heart’s content. ⌨🤓 Haha! Here is how you research: 1. Make a column of every hashtag that could possibly go with your niche. 2. Type each one individually in its own row, and look at the three things discussed above. 3. Determine which have the best engagement, cleanest content, and best ROI. 4. Figure out which are your best 30-60 hashtags. 5. Use those, customize each post with hashtags that are related with your post. NOTE: Do NOT put your hashtags in your caption... ❌ Put hashtags as a comment AFTER your post! ✅ It makes no difference from a search standpoint, and makes your post look much cleaner to your followers/other users. 😍 TIP: Copy all of your hashtags into your notepad so you can just copy and paste with each post. Keep in mind, you still have to optimize each set for every post! 😉 4) CONSISTENCY 🔑 So many people think that posting 1-2 times a day is enough. BUT IF YOUR GOAL IS TO MONETIZE YOUR INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT, IT’S NOT! But why? Instagram is a global platform. 🌏 You are reaching people on all timezones across the world... 🌐 So, if you post only at 8am, and 6pm, you are missing out on the views of everyone else, all over the world... Not only that, but even within your timezone, not everyone is logged on and active on IG at the same time. You have to be consistent with your posting.. Not only does it allow more people to see your content, it also shows people that you are serious about what you are doing, and establishes major credibility! 👑 We post 4+ times EVERY SINGLE DAY on our business accounts. ![Screen Shot 2017-07-21 at 12.06.21.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmccWM5ZTpEBLZBGr1MGJboEZt1kGNcR5iVmPnE6XUETfS/Screen%20Shot%202017-07-21%20at%2012.06.21.png) If we only posted once a day, that is 1⁄4 to 1⁄6 of the exposure that we are currently getting. Being consistent makes a HUUUUUGE difference! 😁 It is just as important as creating clean content and using proper hashtags. DON'T overlook it. 👍 5) Your Network = Your Net WORTH 💵 In order to be successful, you MUST network and get engagement from larger accounts (bigger is better) to like, comment and share your posts. Connecting with larger accounts to like and comment on your accounts will drive up the algorithm for Instagram and make it easier for YOUR post to hit the explore page and reach a wider audience. 😉 ![horizontal3.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmWZd58vys6DEU4zP1TU3Zb7UHymikDMJAojTxTx57ng6D/horizontal3.png) My goal is to help as many people as possible achieve success on Instagram, and in business. I am here on Steemit to help and serve others by helping them achieve success and shift mindsets, lives, and bank accounts from surviving into THRIVING!!!. That is why I do what I do. 😉 If you implement the strategies discussed above in your Instagram account, create clean content, take the time to really research your hashtags, and remain consistent with your posting, you will see results. Quickly. These are things that anyone can do, and I look forward to seeing the success you will have! I hope this helps! Feel free to comment anything you learned, ask me any questions, resteem, and share it with anyone you’d like. 😊 Hope you're having a beautiful Friday! Aloha! 🤙