Tips To Be A Successful Instagram Influencer In 2021.

Are you sitting around wondering how all these people make money off Instagram? Why you can’t? Why you haven’t? Well I’m here to give you all the best tips and tricks on how to be a successful instagram influencer.

I started growing my Instagram over 10 years ago but didn’t start “influencing” until about 3 years ago. In my first year, I made almost 20k, second year more and third year the growth was insane! Sometimes I made as much as 20k in ONE MONTH. It’s incredible. A lot of people think you just get free products, snap a pic and that’s it. That’s not even close to what we put into making money off instagram.

We work with many amazing brands, check and respond to emails, sign contracts, find product in store, get it shipped to us, take a million photos after setting up props,etc and then we edit, read contracts to make sure it’s all correct, send caption, photos, blogs, all for approval. So much goes into this, but it’s so so worth it. Below you’ll find some of the best tips and tricks to get started with influencing.

Let’s start with the most important thing when it comes to be an influencer.

Your Feed.

Most brands out there don’t want a sloppy, unorganized feed. I’ve been doing this instagram thing for about 3 years now and my photography skills have only gotten better. I’ve always had an eye for picture taking but when i started this it really helped me. Your feed needs to be “aesthetically” pleasing. I know it’s a bit crazy right? It can be so hard. My house isn’t the best looking house out there nor is it “instagram” worthy in my opinion but you’d be surprised how much I move things around or clean certain areas just for a photo. Behind that clean minimal looking area is a hot mess. Find your flow and stick with it. Get presets(I have some you can purchase HERE), super easy to use and edit your pics like a professional with one click. You can find so many presets so just find some that compliment your house, your kids, etc. Most companies like more natural presets so it doesn’t change the color of the product. That’s so easy to find. So go find a preset, take random photos, and start planning how you want your feed to look. It’ll take awhile but it’s a start.

Beginner

So as a beginner, you will get a lot of offers for simply FREE PRODUCT. This is okay to do but definitely not necessary. I only did a few free product swaps before i was getting paid for all of my collaborations. I’ve gotten paid as much as 5k for ONE INSTAGRAM POST. Know your worth. Start with a few product only swaps, dip your toes in and then go for the gold baby! You don’t have to take on every single collaboration that comes your way. Do what you would normally promote, something you use, you would use.

How To Get Collaborations?

So this is a huge question I get all the time. Where do you find them? So when I began I emailed A LOT of companies who I wanted to Collab with. I reached out first. A lot of brands won’t reach out if they don’t see any sponsored content on your page, so go ahead, find a good pitch (google is great for finding pitches) and go for it! Get some collaborations under you belt and more will come your way. I hardly ever reach out for collaborations anymore. They come to me. Nothing wrong with reaching out, do what you have to. They also have a million platforms out there. Some have requirements and some don’t. Just Seth around and you’ll find them.

Be Smart

This is SUCH A HUGE TIP. Be smart! Do not ever click links from random emails. If it seems sketchy, don’t do it. So many scammers out there. They will have you click a link and hack your account so you lose your account all together or make you send them money and then never give the account back. If you have a laptop, use your mouse and scroll over the link (do not click) and you can tell if it’s legit or not. I can’t stress this enough. Be smart about it! I know how exciting it is when you start, trust me I was there but be smart and stay on top of your game.

Engagement is Key

This is another HUGE one. Engagement is key. Most brands don’t really care if you have 500 followers or 5,000. Some do but most want to see that engagement rate high. They want to know your audience is engaged and you are being seen by more than just your audience. Engagement is key! Work hard on it, engage with others, react to stories, follow new people. Just don’t get blocked, so go slow. Everyday set time to engage on others content. In return you’ll show up on those feeds more and more.

Find Your Niche

This kind of goes along with you feed. You want to find your niche and stick to it. So motherhood, lifestyle, food, beauty, travel, etc. Find whatever it is your heart desires and go with that! I do motherhood, lifestyle and a bit of food as well. If you travel a lot and post travel photos then you’d be in the travel niche and so on. Having a niche is important. You want those specific brands to want to work with you. If you post a ton of food but actually travel, travel brands won’t want to work with you cause you post food! Get it?

Stay Consistent

It took me awhile to get where I am but I was always consistent! I never stopped, i never took a break (minus like a week when i was on vacation) I was always working hard towards my goals. Being an influencer is a lot more then just getting free products, posting it and getting paid. It takes time, a lot of energy, frustration, tears and a whole lot of love.

Post Intentional Content

You don’t want to post stuff people don’t care to read. You want to post intentional captions and photos. Stay true to you. Write engaging captions. Make people want to engage, make people want to come to your page if they aren’t following you. Captions are a great way to get connected with your audience and provide valuable info. Make your first sentence eye catching! When you scroll and see a caption you normally have to click read more to see the entire caption so make sure the first sentence is eye catching!

Make Engaging Stories

The more you make engaging stories, the more people will react to them. Therefore making you show up more on those feeds and showing up at the front of stories. It can be very time consuming to do this but it WORKS and it’s so worth it. Also be sure to react to others stories also.

Have A Media Kit Ready

This is huge, you want to always have a media kit ready. These are so very simple to make. You can use Canva to make your own and even email me to make you one for a low price. You just need a little about you, some photos to show your photography skills, past collaborations (you can wait and add those once you get a few) Social Media handles, website if you have one. You want to also add your audience demographics. (US% Female, Male, etc.) If you have a blog, add your monthly viewers also.

Be You

I use to run a group to help women get started influencing and I helped hundreds get started and showed them the way to do it right. Be authentic, be real, be raw and always, I mean always stay true to yourself. You can make $500 a month or you can make it your full income. Either way it’s work. So do it the right way and it’ll be something you actually enjoy doing. It won’t feel like work.

Remember success doesn’t happen overnight. You have to work for it, once you start doing that you’ll see amazing growth! I hope this helped you and i wish you nothing but the best in your new adventure!

Check out my blog on how to grow your Pinterest to 10m+ monthly viewers and sky rocket your blog! Check it out HERE.

Be sure to follow me on Instagram, Pinterest & Facebook for more tips and tricks. Let’s connect!

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Xoxo, until next time Cheyenne!

I’ve connected with some amazing Bloggers to share some blogs featuring some influencer/blogging tips for 2021! Tips to grow, engagement & more! Head to each of their blogs to check out what they are sharing.

Heather

3 Things You Need to Know if You Have Ever Thought About Creating a Blog

Amy

Influencing for Dummies (like me)

Gracee

8 steps for starting your blog in 2021

Lori

7 Tips To Grow As An Influencer on A Budget

Krystalyn

How To Balance Time As An Influencer