As an Instagram Influencer I have found so many different things that work and do not work. I am frequently asked so many questions on how I grew my Instagram and how I go about working with companies. Often, I receive emails from people charging to take their class or have them manage my account. This is your first mistake. You should never have to PAY to be an influencer.
Influencing is not just posting products, it is posting content that draws followers in, that makes it attractive for a company to work with you.
So here is my list of what to work on and how to get your page paid worthy and land paid collaborations.
1. Do not try to land collaborations until you have your page looking collaboration ready. Find some great accounts to follow! You can try checking out different hashtags in your niche to find follow worthy accounts.
2. When I started, my photos were GARBAGE. Seriously. I thought so many were amazing and look back now questioning WHY I really posted those photos. You need high quality photos and trust me when I say, angles are everything. I take hundreds of photos before I get the perfect post worthy photo. I know we all want to post real and raw, but try to do real and raw pretty and eye catching.
3. Use a preset. There are so many amazing presets out there, but Allie Boss are my favorite. Using a preset will help keep your feed "pretty". Some people do consistently use the same one. I have several and tend to use the photo that looks the best regardless of the preset.
4. Know your worth! Seriously. Do NOT settle for product only. Photography, posting and staying creative and relevant is a TON of work. It is not post and go, its post and constantly interact with your followers.
5. Engagement. I will write another blog at a later date on this, but I just want to briefly touch on this. You will not gain followers or be relevant without being seen. You have to get people to want to see your page! Go find them! Comment and like and engage on stories of all sorts of people. It is a great way to connect and to make sure you are being seen.
6. Do not be afraid to approach companies on your own. How will they know you love them already and want to spread the word if you don't tell them?!
7. Pitch. Look, you can't just email a company and say "Hey, lets collaborate". I don't message random brands that I don't know about ahead of time. I research them and let them know why I love them and why I think my followers will love them.
8. Grammar. DO NOT blog and Influence if you can't properly write. I saw a girl with close to 100k followers who had 5 run on sentences and apparently had no idea what a comma was. This is not the way to be taken seriously. I am not saying I am perfect, I have to go fix my writing all the time, but you should not be actively trying to do a job like this if you can't write or have someone help you edit. Oh, and, use words in the proper tense - their, there, they're, except, accept, and the list goes on.
9. Captions. You want your captions to say something, but not too much. Find a happy medium. Do NOT post the same things over and over and over again. Do NOT make your captions too long.
10. Do not give up! Companies have budgets and certain audiences they are looking for. Do not give up if you don't always get a yes. It takes time.
11. Have a rate sheet and media kit. If you have questions on these please reach out to me and I will help you!
12. Know that all companies have budgets. One may pay 4 figures and one may pay $100. It is your decision how low and high you are willing to go.
I am always available to answer questions and plan to continue to write FREE blogs on my Instagramming and Blogging tips! You can always reach out to me on Instagram with any questions, concerns or topics you would like to see.
-Laura
