Chow You Later logo

Digital Marketing

How to get 100 Followers a Day on Instagram in 2019

by

If you feel your growth is not fast enough and you really need that extra push to grow your Instagram account then this article is for you. I show you exactly how I got 100 followers a day as well as any lessons I’ve learned along the way.

Last updated: December 5, 2019

Why I decided to embark on this dangerous journey

The simple answer is for more exposure. It’s unfortunate that many agencies define you based on the number of followers you have simply because “with x amount of followers, you can unlock this feature and that feature…” or “you can join this or that group… blah, blah blah”. I realize Follower Count is not the only factor but a large one that determines whether you can join a group or not. Because of the way it works, it puts most users at a disadvantage to start off. I’m embarking on this journey because just like everyone else I want to grow my account, I want the same advantages, and to share my findings with everyone.

Mind you this came during a week when many of my colleagues were getting action banned for likes and following too many people at once. Instagram has been cracking down on accounts using third-party apps as well as what they deem bot-like behavior. It’s, for this reason, I mentioned it a dangerous journey ahead. But I think the learning involved will be worth it in the end.

What You’ll Need

If you want to take a more steady approach please read my How I got 2000 Followers Fast. Basically, we’re going to take that strategy and inject steroids into it but before I go ahead, let’s go over some preliminary requirements because if you’re starting from ground zero it will be a lot more difficult to achieve this feat. This article makes some assumptions.

  1. You will need a legit account. That means, your account needs to look credible. To be credible you need to optimize your profile and feed. In other words, don’t look spammy or a fake account. Humans like to connect with others of value. Provide none, and there will be no follows.
  2. At least 2500 Followers already in your account. The more followers you have the easier this process will be. I’m not saying it’s impossible but it will be much more difficult if you don’t have around 2500 followers. If you’re not quite there, please check out my How I got 2000 followers fast.
  3. You’re going to need about 2-3 hours of accumulated free time per day. 100 Followers day is not an easy feat especially when trying to get around Instagram’s algorithm to avoid getting banned. You will need to dedicate some free time just for Instagram.
  4. Multitasking skill. If you’re not good at multitasking then this approach is probably not for you.

Hopefully I didn’t scare you away. After going through the preliminaries, if you’re still interested keep reading.

How it’s done

100 followers a day insights
My streak from Sunday (9/1) to Thursday (9/5)

With Instagram cracking down on suspensions and the soft banning of accounts this was outright dangerous but I need to build my audience. I decided not to use any third-party apps and went the manual route which I prefer. Here I will outline how I did it.

1.) Spread out your Follow Actions.

In case you’re not aware, the best way to grow an account fast is using the Follow for Follow Method. I won’t go in-depth too much as this article is already long but it’s when you follow an account and in return they follow you back. I go into more details of the Follow for Follow.

Instagram has a merit system that allows you to follow more people based on how long your account has been around and your Trust Rating. When your account is in good standing, they’ll extend your leash a little but abuse it, and it’s going to get tugged. With that said, if you follow a bunch of accounts at once, you’re going to get flagged.

Instead, spread it out throughout the day. For me, I did a Follow Wave which I define as following around 10-15 accounts at one time. You don’t have to shadow me but what I did was run a follow wave during these times:

  • As soon as I wake up
  • Before leaving the house
  • Before/During/After lunch
  • At the gym in between sets
  • At the parking lot before any destination
  • Before/During/After dinner
  • Before going to bed

As you can see, there’s nothing exciting about this. It can be tedious but as I mentioned, if you’re really driven that’s how it’s done. It’s about taking advantage of the pockets of time you have during the day.

2.) Diversify your Instagram activity.

Be a human on Instagram. Diversify your actions. Whatever you do not be a robot. Besides following and unfollowing, this means:

  • Like and comment on posts
    • For me, I comment on about 1 out of every 60 likes I make
  • Create a Story
  • Watch other user’s stories and react/comment to it
  • Create a post and followup with comments
The red circle of love!

Make sure to regularly post and upload a story. By regular, I mean posting every 2-3 days and for stories, at least once a day. What attracts other accounts is if you’re an active one. No one wants a dead beat account so that red ring around your profile signifies to others you’re active.

3.) Like recent posts. You want to be hunted.

This one here is important. When you go to your home feed, you will see a bunch of posts. The most crucial ones are those that were posted an hour or earlier. These are the posts you want to use your likes. With Instagram flagging you for using too many likes, likes are somewhat a scarce resource.

Remember the Follow for Follow Method I mentioned earlier? There are a lot of accounts familiar with this practice. In this world, there are the hunted and the hunters. To me, you want your likes to appear like a fat juicy gazelle so the lions can find you. When you like a recent post of another account, you’re in early and the lions will come and find you later. And if you want to entice them even more, leave a comment. See how many will follow you just based on that action. Liking an older post is like feeding a pack of lions that already had their feast. You’re too late.

4.) Hunt for Accounts that will most likely follow you back.

Ohh but plot twist. You gotta eat too. Time to go hunting. Welcome to the circle of life. Look for accounts that are most likely going to follow you back. These are the accounts that have a good ratio of followers to following.

The most simple explanation is if an account has 20K followers yet only follow like 10 accounts, do you think they’ll follow you back? Of course not. I go more in-depth with the follow ratio here.

Now it’s your turn: 100 Followers a Day Challenge

At first, it will be shaky but after some time you will get the hang of it and move pretty fast going through the motions. It will be cruise control and all of it muscle memory. Don’t be hard on yourself if you’re unable to get your first 100 followers a day right away. It takes time and don’t give up. There are so many benefits to having a high follower count. If I can do it, anyone can.

If you found inspiration from reading my post, then I too challenge you to this grueling week of Follow for Follows. Tag me in your post or hashtag #chowyoulater100 and let me know your results. How long can you get your streak going without getting an action block from Instagram?

If you want to practice at a slower pace or you’re not seeing results, check out my Road to 2000 Followers for more indepth explanations and mindset.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are you constantly on your phone?

If I was on my phone all day, I wouldn’t be able to go about my day. What really matters is your ability to multitask and be aware of the pockets of time given in a day. When I say pockets of time, I’m referring to the little downtime we have while we’re waiting in line for something, commuting on the train, working out in between sets, etc. You’d be surprised by how much these little time pockets can add up in a day.

How long can you maintain the rate of 100 Followers a day?

I came to a halt because I stretched out my following count to the max at 7500 Followers but honestly, it can be maintained for a while as long as you’ve got the time and dedication. For me, I wanted to push myself and to see if it could be done which I proved.

Just keep in mind it’s very monotonous. After spending a week on it, I want to say 30-35 followers a day or 1000 a month is a lot more reasonable to me. At 100 per day, there’s a lot of maintenance involved. Like I said, take this route if you really need that extra push.

What are the pros of growing that fast?

Obviously, when agencies and sponsors put a major emphasis on the number of followers you have, growing your account by 100 a day is going to be beneficial. With a bigger account, you can do a lot more if you’re looking to monetize on Instagram. For instance, at 10K followers Instagram allows you to link your website to stories. If you’re in e-commerce, this is crucial. If you think this is a cheap method, my motto is to hate the game and not the player.

What are the cons of growing that fast?

Anytime you’re aiming for a quantifiable number fast, from a qualitative standpoint it’s going to suffer somewhat. In other words, when you’re aiming for a specific number like 100 followers a day and time is limited, the number of quality followers may take a hit. What I mean by quality are accounts that may not even be in your language or ones just looking to grow rather than engage. My thing is if you want to interact with them in the future, and their content is in a different language it makes it nearly impossible to gain any meaningful interactions. Be sure to refer to your end game.

By growing at this pace, your engagement rate will probably take a hit. There’s only so much time to a day and what a human can do. That is not to say it can’t be boosted later once you hit your target number of followers.

If you need help with Engagement, check out my article on how to boost your engagement. And if you want to support my page, do subscribe and follow me on my social media handles at Instagram, Twitter, Facebook.

11 Best Instagram Story Tips & Tricks for 2019

by

In the last months, I’ve been playing around with Instagram Story trying to see what gets the best response and learning from others their tricks of the trade. Finally, I’ve got the answers. In this article, I give you my 11 Instagram Story Tips and Tricks (some secrets of mine) to optimizing your Instagram account.

Last updated: May 3, 2020

Before we begin, I want to show you one of the Instagram Stories I’m very proud of. This one gave me an extra push in viewers and follower count.

This compilation of Instagram Stories was the pivotal point when I started to understand the tips, concepts and function of Instagram Story. Does yours have to be exactly like that? Of course not but following my tips as a guide, you will see similar results. Let’s get to my top Instagram Story Tips and Hacks.

Enjoyed my video? If so, please don’t forget to subscribe to my Youtube channel. It tells me where I should contribute my time towards.

1.) Be Real, be genuine.

I know… this is a cliché tip. Well, it’s always going to be about being authentic. I got some practical advice for you: If you view your video upload and you’re 100% satisfied with how you look, how you sound, then you’re not being real. A helpful rule of advice is to be satisfied with your video at around the 80% mark. A little bit of cringe is a good thing because that’s when you know it’s real.

I keep bringing it up but your greatest asset is your personality. That’s your Unique Selling Proposition (USP). You’re probably going to ask me “Well, what if I don’t have a personality?” No, everyone’s got one. Yes, even if you’re quiet or introverted that still counts as a personality. The point is to connect with others. The more personality you show, the more others can resonate with you, then will want to follow you.

If you can take something mundane and banal, and turn it into something funny then you’re golden. That’s pretty much the purpose of these ephemeral videos. To give new light into those boring everyday things. And to post these stories with minimal effort. If your images and videos are perfect, then you’re not using it right. It’s supposed to be spontaneous, unedited, and raw.

2.) Mix it up!!!

Nobody wants to watch a 5-minute video broken up into like thirty 10 second chunks. Whatever you do, do NOT attempt that. Upload it on youtube instead where it’s more appropriate. Today, we live in an ADD world and if something doesn’t capture your attention in 5 seconds, it’s most likely going to be lost. Mixing it up and keeping viewers guessing is the best way to combat our ADD culture. After hours spent watching others, I’ve been able to categorize the different theme of their stories.

  • Questions
    • ie. Ask a random question, hold a Q&A, post answers
  • User Generated Templates/Game
  • Shoutouts
    • Followers
      • Thanking a follower for reposts/likes/anything really
    • Product/brand/manufacturer
      • Thanking a company for reposts/likes/anything really
  • Simple Conversations/Observations
    • Inner Thoughts
  • Current Events (personal or industry specific)
    • New Post Announcement
    • Achievement in your life
  • A glimpse into what you’re doing
    • Selfie
    • POV
    • Behind the Scenes (BTS)

In addition, mixing it up will organically stimulate interest. From what I’ve seen, I’ve gotten more profile visits this way. Keep it interesting and entertaining. Don’t just use a few of these, use all of them. Keep your audience guessing.

3.) Have a plan! Be purposeful.

It’s called Stories for a reason. Stories have a clear beginning, climax, and end or Acts I, II, and III. Whatever you post, aim for continuity and a general gameplan for the day. For example, if you post a question, make it clear your whole day will be dedicated to that (refer to my Italian Family Fest video). In my video for the whole day, I dedicated my stories to the festival making sure there are clear beginnings and endings, through narration and never really going off tangent.

4.) You do not have to post right away.

It’s a common misconception that you have to upload a story right away. Instagram makes it seem like you can only post images/videos from the last 24 hours of your day. Well, until Instagram changes this feature, then you can go through your day recording and at the end, when you’re nicely situated upload the stories. This is a great time to optimize your stories (ie mentions, geotag, hashtag, music tag) to keep it entertaining. The best way to go about is to find the highlights throughout your recoridings. Doing this rids the fluff and filler material.

For example, For vlogging style type of stories, I like to record my whole day first, then go back and look through the clips. See what could be entertaining or useful and dispose of any serving no purpose. Another reason you want to do this is because of time. Eventually, practicing this strategy will reduce your workflow especially if you have a busy life. I know this tip requires some effort but it will reward you in the long run.

5.) Tag your stories!

Image of Instagram Sticker and Tag Options
Instagram Tags and Stickers

You are missing out if you’re not tagging. This is a great way to build an audience beyond your existing followers. Probably the most important tags are the location and hashtag stickers. If tagged properly, these easily boost your viewership and audience. Tags make it easier to find your account and if your stories hit a note with the right person, they can convert to a follower.

6.) Caption your Stories

I forgot what percentage it was but a large portion of people do not watch videos with the sound on. That doesn’t mean you should write an essay but it’s a good idea to write a line to let viewers know what the story is about. If it resonates enough, that might intrigue them to go back and play with the sound on.

7.) Spread out your Stories for maximum views

If you read my Best Time to Post on Instagram article I mentioned that the ideal situation for an Instagram account is to have followers from all over the world. At the very least, have different time zones. This way, your viewership tallies up as you sleep. With that said, I try to spread out my stories throughout the day. At the very least, I’ll do a story first thing in the morning, afternoon, and before bedtime. This way, it gives you a chance to get viewed for those living in different time zones.

8a.) Remember, it’s not about you.

Unless, you’re the Kardashians you have to give people a reason to watch. You should ask yourself, “Besides my personality, what else is my audience getting out of this?” For me, I try to make it informative or entertaining. I can’t think of any other reasons why anyone else would watch. I’ll answer this using the Italian Family Festa as an example.

  • Q: Who is this video for? A: Foodies
  • Q: What would they want to see? A: Probably how the festival is to compare either from their own experiences or in their decision to attend.
  • Q: How do you show this? A: Show the crowds, the vendors you liked, the shows, and food. Be personable.

8b.) Be Inclusive.

Although it’s fun to give shoutouts and to snap photos/videos of yourself with other influencers, for me, it feels more like an exclusive club than an inclusive one for everyone to watch and enjoy. I’m not saying not to do it as there are many benefits to cross-promoting yourself with another influencer but just don’t make every story be about that. Or if you do, provide something of value to your viewers. It goes back to mixing it up (tip #2). Being one dimensional will grow stale fast.

9.) Repurpose.

I’m a minimalist. I don’t like to exert extra effort. If I can do things just once, then it’s best for me. So with that said, all the effort and time spent making your stories pretty are not lost. These are intellectual nuggets of gold. If you’re trying to build a following, you can reuse them on other social media platforms such as Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, etc. As a matter of fact, I recommend it because you never want to put all your eggs in one basket. When Instagram can shut you down for literally anything, it’s a good idea to have other social media properties.

Note: Another way to give your Story legs is by adding them as Highlights to your profile. This tells other accounts your serious about Instagram and it displays your value for both prospective sponsors and followers.

10.) Play around and Experiment

Just remember that these are just guidelines. These tips have worked for me which may not necessarily work for you especially if you’re in a different industry. The best thing to do is to follow my guideline initially. Then go back and review your insights, discover what works and what doesn’t and over time you will know exactly what to do. The key is to know your audience and thyself. Good luck!

11.) Be Congruent & Persistent

Earlier I mentioned your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) and in another article about customer/user avatar. Well, let’s say your profile is about weightloss. If your stories are mainly about eating greasy foods, why would people find any value there to return? This tip relates to Being Purposeful and having Intent (Tip #3).

You should always post a story to keep your followers engaged and god forbid, they learn something new about you. Think of it as a VIP room for your followers. It’s like, “Hey, because you’re watching my stories I’m going to show you my life Behind the Scenes (BTS) and give you some great pointers.” The squeaking wheel gets the oil.

Bonus: Engage. Instagram wants to create “Meaningful relationships”

When Mark Zuckerberg said this a while back, I didn’t really believe him but I’ll have to give credit where it’s due. The way the algorithm works nowadays is engagement. It has turned into a marketplace for friendship, almost like Tinder. If you want exposure you have to engage others. The days of hit it and quit it are over. The more you engage with another user (and this extends out to feed likes, comments, DMs) the more Instagram will make it easier for you to be found.

Don’t believe me? If you go to your Stories bar (home screen above your feed). Check out the top accounts. These are the people who Instagram thinks you’re good friends with. And now go to your story, notice on the bottom left hand corner, it’s always the same few accounts that are at the top of your Instagram Story views? It’s not a coincidence.

If you run out of ideas to post to Instagram Story, then spend the next half hour or so watching/sending a direct message to each other. That’s one sure-fire way of creating “meaningful relationships”.

Want to know more about engaging on Instagram? Check out my article on how to be more engaging on Instagram.

Found my article helpful? You should definitely check out How I Got 2000 followers fast because there are more components involved in building an audience. And if you want to support my page, do subscribe and follow me on my social media handles at Instagram, Twitter, Facebook.

5 Tips Zipkick can help you become a Foodie Influencer

by

So your Instagram is seeing lots of hits and follows. Congratulations! You deserve a pat on the back for that. Everyone loves your drool-inducing pictures and you’ve developed a pretty good following. The next logical step is meeting others just like yourself and working with local and national restaurants. Zipkick is the answer you’ve been looking for.

Last updated: May 3, 2020

Zipkick Foodie Influencer Featured Image

Before we go on ahead, I have a special guest today I’ve reached out to help me with your food influencing endeavors. The best person I’ve found is my friend, Emman Damian, from the Philipines specifically from Makati City which is part of Manila.

Emman Damian The Tennis Foodie
Meet Emman.
Tennis Enthusiast and Foodie Reviewer

He runs an award-winning restaurant review blog where he gets to meet, greet, and dine at some of the best restaurants in the Philipines. Sounds like a dream job 🙂 He’s also a Zipkick Ambasaddor who knows a few things about being a Foodie Influencer. If you want more information about him, visit his blog at The Tennis Foodie. With that said, let’s answer a few questions about the exciting opportunities at Zipkick and how it can help your Foodie Instagram account. In this post, Emman and I will be going back and forth conversation style.

What is Zipkick?

“In my own words, it’s a platform that curates great photos and reviews from foodies around the world. Majority of the members are from US but other countries are well represented too. I established the group in the Philippines. I hope it grows soon. [Being a Zipkick influencer is] someone who imbibes the values of Zipkick. A foodie that shares his or her authentic reviews and feedback on brands and restaurants around his/her city.” – Emman

“Emman is absolutely right. I want to add that Zipkick bridges the gap between foodie influencers and both local restaurant owners and national businesses. It’s a wonderful way to get involved with the foodie community. With Zipkick, you get the middle person who introduces you to countless networking events.” – Rich

How do I become a Zipkick Foodie Influencer?

“You have to apply through a referral link or direct link via the website. It’s simple. The instructions are easy to follow.” – Emman

“Yes, the application is very simple and straight forward. All you really need is an active Instagram account. By active, I mean a quality account that posts often with a decent following. From my experience, if you put in a referral code it can expedite the process a little faster. My code is RU3 and Emman’s is ED3. Feel free to use our codes.” – Rich

How to use Zipkick?

“Once your application has been accepted you will begin seeing Brand Opportunities or campaigns emailed to you. These campaigns will be Zipkick partnered companies (such as McDonalds, UberEats, and many other local establishments) who may have a grand opening, new food menu/item, or just want their name out there. Typically, the way it works is the restaurant or food manufacturer gives you a freebie or invites you to events. In return, you post about their product on Instagram. More about that later.” – Rich

“It’s very active right now on Instagram. I think the app is under revamp now. You can also use the app to link your reviews.” – Emman

How does Zipkick work?

“It’s basically a community where you share your insights and honest feedback regarding some restaurants or food brands you handled. It will be shared via the app or through Instagram. You get to showcase your work to the foodie community worldwide.” – Emman

“Once you receive an email to register with the Brand Opportunity campaign, you will be debriefed with logistics such as deadlines, addresses, objectives of the project, etc which looks like this:

Zipkick Brand Opportunity for Foodie Influencers

If interested, check off the Terms and Conditions and click the Interested button. Your registration is then sent and you should hear back within a few hours of your status. It’s pretty fun.” – Rich

Do I have to be a Zipkick Foodie Influencer to Participate in the Campaigns?

“Yes! It’s a fun community. You can share your yummy posts to other members. You get to collaborate with them too. I met a lot of people through this platform. It’s a good way to look for opportunities too.” – Emman

“The only way to participate in these events is to be a Zipkick influencer so yes, you have to join in order to reap the rewards. There are so many reasons to join, I can’t think of why you shouldn’t.” – Rich

How much does Zipkick cost?

“It does not cost anything. It’s a membership only platform so make sure you apply for it. My pro tip is to just work on your IG feed. Post yummy and authentic photos. It should do the trick.” – Emman

“Ditto that. Zipkick costs nothing to join. It’s totally free.” – Rich

How I can meet other Foodie Influencers through Zipkick?

“Earlier, I mentioned a brand opportunity campaign. There are going to be some local events such as a restaurant grand opening. If you are selected to go, then you will get a chance to meet other Zipkickers. My pro tip is to take lots of photos, enjoy the complimentary foods, and have the time of your life. If your schedule is hectic, then another option is through Engagement Groups found on Zipkick’s website upon log in. This feature allows you to interact and find other Zipkickers online.” – Rich

I just started, is Zipkick right for me?

“The beauty of Zipkick is the number of resources available. As mentioned earlier, there is the Engagement Groups where others can help you develop your Instagram account and boost your engagement rate. Then there’s also a roadmap of badges to earn which makes it perfect for newbies. Emman can go over a little more on how Zipkick has helped him early on.” – Rich

“Zipkick is right for you because it’s a great community of food photographers, stylists, foodies and other food enthusiasts. It helps you share your gastronomic experiences and creative juices. The platform helped me reach my goals and linked me to different opportunities.” – Emman

Why would I want to earn badges and become a Zipkick ambassador? What are the perks?

“Having a Zipkick badge as influencer or ambassador cements your credibility as a Trusted Foodie. It also enables you to work on projects that are available. You get to meet great people too.” – Emman

Let’s summarize what we learned

In summary, Zipkick can help with your foodie influencer endeavors by:

  1. Matching you up with both local businesses and national brands.
  2. Networking you with local foodies and others around the world.
  3. Helping you develop your Instagram Account with Engagement Pods.
  4. Developing your Foodie Influencer milestones with a roadmap of achievements to reach or badges to earn.
  5. Allowing opportunities to become a Zipkick Ambassador of your own network and agency by referring foodies, freelancers, and brands.

That’s pretty much it! If you have other questions please send me a message or leave a comment below and either Emman or I will get back to you. If your question is commonly asked, we can update the blog post to counter anything we missed.

Found my article helpful? You should definitely check out How I Got 2000 followers fast because there are more components involved. And if you want to support my page, do subscribe and follow me on my social media handles at Instagram, Twitter, Facebook.

7 Easy Tips to an Engaged Instagram Account

by 36 Comments

So you have the follower count but your engagement doesn’t seem to correlate with any of the audience growth you’ve been seeing. You can count your engagement rate with your fingers in one hand. My article walks you through the latest tips to become a more engaged Instagram account.

Last updated: January 23, 2020

7 Tips for Engaged Instagram Account Featured Image

Here’s what popular opinion never tells you: You have to engage!! It’s easy to post multiple images a day and leave it alone. Unless you’re a celebrity, you’ll soon realize this method will get you nowhere. If you want a following you’re going to have to give people a reason to give their attention to you. Attention is a commodity nowadays so why should anyone give you 3 seconds of their time? Well, to start, a good reason is that you’re giving them yours. So with that said, let’s move on to the very first tip.

1.) You Scratch my back and I’ll Scratch Yours

The idea of reciprocity is an age-old one from the early days of human civilization and trade to the present days of social media. It’s very simple, when you like a post there’s a good chance that account will like yours right back. It’s an even exchange. Always keep that in mind.

But, “Rich, I’ve haven’t seen any reciprocity. When I try to comment and like another account, they never respond back to me. You’re completely wrong!”

Then my next advice is to check the accounts you’ve been interacting with. If these accounts are 3 times or more your audience size, chances are they’re not going to reciprocate. It’s nothing personal, it’s science. Aim for the accounts that are similar in size to you (or smaller) and you’ll notice more interactions.

Found Tip #1 useful? Check out my Unwritten Rules of Instagram article that goes into the mindset to have for a successful Instagram Foodie Account.

2. The Art of Following Up

This tip ties in with Tip #1 about reciprocity. Whenever someone interacts with you, interact with them back. It only takes a few interactions for that person to begin to remember you. For example:

Ghosts in different colors and sizes
Hey! No ghosting!
Photo Credit: OpenClipart-Vectors
  • If someone likes your photo, go back to theirs and like them.
  • When someone makes a comment on your photo, reply back.
  • If someone tags you, like and leave a comment.

After a few likes/comments they are going to remember you and as a reminder, no ghosting allowed if you want an engaged instagram account! If you’ve ever been ghosted, you’ll know it’s just not a cool thing to do.

3. Peacock Theory in Action: Use Bulk Likes

Peacock wooing peahen
“Look at me Dammit, I’m beautiful!”
Photo Credit: Kenneth Lu

Like a male peacock, the most colorful and flashiest get their mate. It’s not different for humans. After all, we are social animals and will reciprocate good deeds (are you seeing a pattern here? Human reciprocity is alive and well!). So as mentioned earlier, when someone shows you love, you gotta show it right back. As you’ll find out sooner or later, time is very limited. You have to make every effort count and in order to do that, you will follow my commandment: thou shall like in bulk. What I mean is you want to take up their whole notification screen. I actually took the time to count and it comes out to about 10-11 rows like this:

Instagram Notification Screenshot of peacocking
What Peacocking Looks like

This is how you keep your ancestry, I mean, your account fresh and memorable with others. Usually, accounts will be thankful and give you a shoutout on their story. This is great because it gives you more exposure and it’s likely other accounts will want to follow you because you share these important values of being a decent human being.

4. Leave Thoughtful Comments

My valentine dog to world
Photo Credit: Joe Haupt

A word on commenting. The most useless comments I’ve seen are generic ones that can be copied and pasted over and over again. If you really want to leave an impression, you have to stray away from those type of comments like “Amazing!” “Yummy” or inserting a bunch of emoji’s. You gotta ask yourself what’s the difference between yourself and a bot at that point? Show them your value by giving them a few extra seconds of thought and over time it will pay off. Respond to their caption. If its a question, it‘s even better because it just makes commenting easier!

5. Use Engagement Pods

For those who are not familiar, a common technique most accounts use is what’s called an Engagement Pod or sometimes referred to as Instagram Pods. Essentially these are chat groups often found in the Direct Message who all are dedicated to liking and maybe commenting on every member’s post. We, humans, tend to have a herd mentality, where we are influenced by our peers. For example, when you drive by a restaurant with a huge crowd outside. Chances are you’d want to stop by to check out the commotion. For the case of Instagram, when we see many liking and commenting on a post, we want to join in. Engagement Pods can help boost your engaged Instagram account and I would not pass it up.

Overtime, as both your account and engagement grows others will want to be a part of it. In other words, you will start seeing others outside your engagement pod leaving comments on your post. The reason why this is the case, is because these accounts are also trying to grow. They know that if they leave a comment, they will be seen thus increasing their chances of getting followed.

6. Take advantage of Insta Stories for Engaged Instagram

I call it the Best Friends Forever (BFF) maker. It really is. Many are not taking advantage of this awesome feature. It gives you a way to connect with others and show your human side. Sometimes, especially with themed accounts like food ones, you don’t get to show another side of yourself. With polls, quizzes, questions, etc. it would be difficult not to create any rapport with other users. Instagram makes it easy so take advantage. Regular posts at times, do not give you the chance to show your personality and Stories does allow the possibility.

Do: Check out other users’ stories. Respond to them. This is a great way to stick out because, as I said, many are not taking advantage of Insta Stories. Think about it, when you use Instagram do you remember those who DM you or the account activity in your Notifications? When you react or respond to an Insta Story, a DM is sent.

7. Tag your posts

"Tag You're it" with indexing finger pointing at reader
Photo Credit: Prose0606

Haven’t interacted with someone in a while? Well, here’s your chance to tag them. After a while, just as others have noticed you, you will begin noticing certain accounts yourself. You’ll notice what this account likes and dislikes solely based on the subject they post. For example, some may be dominant in posts about icescream. If your next post is about icescream, guess who you can tag?? 🙂

BONUS: Leave Great Captions

This one here shouldn’t be a secret. If you leave great captions, it will make it easier for others to comment. This goes with Tip #4. It’s good courtesy to have for both sides as engager and engagee. If you caption with a boring description of your post, it’s not going to translate well. Energy is contagious and it can transfer to the captions. Be exciting, ask a question, tell a short story, and answer the question why we should care.

There you have it! My 7 tips for an engaged Instagram account. Use these tips and you should see your Instagram game multiply twofold. If you found my article helpful, you should definitely check out How I Got 2000 followers fast because there are more components involved. And if you want to support my page, do subscribe and follow me on my social media handles: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook.

Instagram Etiquette: The Unwritten Rules 2019

by

If your Instagram account is in a rut, chances are you’re not following great Instagram Etiquette. Since the beginning of time, as long there’s human interaction there have been unwritten rules society abides by. This article covers great etiquette that will transform you into a star bringing you more followers in the long run.

Last updated: February 2, 2021

Instagram Etiquette Featured Image

How to have great Instagram Etiquette

Let’s face it, Instagram is like a game of BlackJack. There is a matter of skills, luck, and play your cards right there’s a good chance of winning it big. In this world, instead of winning cash you get likes and follows. To enter, you buy with time. The more time you spend on Instagram, the higher the reward. If you’ve ever played BlackJack at a table, you will find there’s a right way to play. The players at the table are much like a community rooting for everyone to win as long as you don’t mess up the flow. Don’t believe? Ask the dealer to hit you at 19 and there’s a good chance you’ll find what was once a full table is now just yourself and the dealer. With all that said, keeping those things in mind, what are the rules and how can we win?

Let’s get a quick overview before we begin:

  1. Keep your account niche.
  2. Display your Personality.
  3. Follow the 90/10 Rule for Theme to Personal Photos
  4. Use Engagement Pods.
  5. Divide up your time.
  6. Content, content, engagement?
  7. Be Genuine.
  8. Time is a resource. Be grateful to visitors.
  9. Just do it.

1.) Keep your account niche.

You can stray away later when you have hundreds of thousands of followers but you need to make it very clear to people in the beginning what your account is about. I’ll use my example since I have a foodie account. It’s simple, Foodies will want to follow other foodies. If you post stuff about cosmetics, fashion, or cars how do you know if your followers have an interest in these fields?

There will be times when you just want to go off the deep end and share some off-themed posts but remember that your audience is following you because of your theme. They see value there. I’m not against it completely but try to keep it 90-10 which I’ll go into more details in Rule #3. You want your audience to relate with you, not isolate them.

2.) Display your Personality.

Your personality is your Unique Selling Proposition (USP). There are millions of travel, food, cars, fashion accounts. What makes your account different is you. I hate to break the news but you have to reveal who you are and what you’re about. If people see your value they will feel obliged to follow you. The only other possibility is making theme accounts where you post other people’s images/videos but I don’t think you’re here to do that. You’re here because you want to build something, perhaps, to quit your day job one day to live freely!

Be true to yourself. Be helpful. Follow the Golden Rule: Treat others the way you want to be treated or better yet, the Platinum Rule if you’re really good with social skills, treat others the way they want to be treated.

Platinum Rule Treat others the way they want to be treated.

Don’t caption your pictures with just boring descriptions or worst, with nothing. You’re losing out on your followers. Are you funny, serious, relatable? They would never know and you’d never get the chance to make that human connection.

So how to caption? Share a personal story. Tell your followers the why’s of the picture. Tell your followers a joke. If it’s a restaurant: tell them what occasion you’re there. For more details check out how to optimize your feed and profile.

3.) 90/10: Theme Posts to Personal Images

This rule doesn’t apply if you’re in the entrepreneurial, fitness, or travel niches but it’s ever so true for niches like food. Remember what I was saying about personality and not hiding behind a logo? Well, Rule #3 goes along with #2 BUT post too many and you’re in danger of losing followers. As a general rule, I like to keep it 90% about your theme and 10% about you. Show people who you are. Make it interesting.

Don’t simply just post just to post. Have a reason behind it.

Don’t make it 100% about yourself. Remember, you need to provide value whether that’s in the form of information and/or entertainment, you can decide what works best for you. If you take too many pictures of yourself, you run the danger of confusing others what your account is about. The only exceptions are in fashion or fitness. Even then you still don’t want to have too many pictures of yourself.

The worst accounts, imo, are the ones that scream for attention displaying high levels of narcissism. An account with more selfies will surely get drop your follower rate. For me, I like to do 10% images of myself and 90% on my theme.

And this is not me saying you can’t do selfies at all. After you get your first 2000 followers and you’ve built a good rapport with your audience, then you should reveal more about yourself slowly by thin layers.

4.) Participate in Engagement Pods (aka Instagram Pods)

If you don’t know what an engagement pod is, well you’ve come to the right place. It’s what a lot of Instagram accounts are using to up their engagement rate (the percentage of your followers that like/comment on your posts). Shocking!?!? I know right! You should have seen my innocent social media ears when I first heard about this strategy as I always thought everything was organic before. The engagement rate is another Key Performance Indicator (KPI) sponsors look for. Usually the more followers the account, the less engagement there is. 10% is considered good for large accounts and anything greater than 20% for small accounts are golden.

Anyways, I digress. You’re probably wondering how you can find these engagement pods. The best way honestly is to start your own. When you start your own, you can hand pick the people you want to engage with. Theres this advice that’s always stuck with me from a realtive of mine. He told me that on my first day of college I want to make friends with as many people as possible. The ones that stay around are going to be your friends for life. With the engagement pod, look at it that way. You’re going to find like minded individuals who are aspiring to do the same things you are. As weeks and months pass you will see how much everyone grown together. It’s fun and you can develop some meaningful relatioships.

These are your support group. Through thick and thin, through bad pictures, through awesome ones they will like your posts. Treat them well.

5.) Divvy up your time.

Image quote "Never a failure, always a lesson."
Photo by Dana Tentis from Pexels

Don’t try to get it done all at once. With all this engagement, you may find yourself addicted and spending longer hours than anticipated. Afterall, we all have a life to attend. A good rule of thumb I like to follow is 30-35 follows a day. After a month, you’re going to be near 1000 and when you get close to the finish line, you’ll naturally want to push a little harder. Once you reach your quota of 30-35 followers/day, shut it off. Run far away from your phone. Leave it with your dog. It will be tempting to check your notifications.

Check out my schedule to gain followers fast with minimum effort and efficiency.

NOTE: Another reason you want to follow accounts in small chunks is that you run the risk of getting banned or blocked. The last I checked was 1000 per day (these are are just speculative numbers based on other user’s experience because Instagram does not disclose this info) but it constantly changes and you may want to stay clear under that number.

6.) “Content is King, but Engagement is Queen and she rules the house.”

It’s a popular belief that if you keep posting, an image is bound to go viral. That’s semi-true. The problem is getting seen and heard via Instagram. If no one can find you or your posts, how can it go viral? By posting more? Let me tell you something, there’s a common saying that can be applied here: the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over again expecting different results.

So as mentioned earlier, it’s semi-true. What you want to do is post as much as you can and engage. I wouldn’t worry too much about how often. I post on average 3 times a week and still made 2000 followers in 4 months and that was when I was just starting out.

7.) Don’t force it. Be genuine.

This one seems like a no brainer but you’ll be amazed how easy it is to fall off the cliff. Know who you are. Be congruent. Follow those who you resonate with. Don’t just follow just anybody. Most likely those accounts won’t stay around long. Don’t force things that aren’t there. Don’t go around asking people to shout you out because you followed them. I also think it’s spammy if you have to ask others to like your post via Direct Message. I don’t know about you but the more I’m told to do something the more I disengaged I become.

8.) Time is a resource. Always be grateful.

Remember, you’re the new kid on the block. You have to pay your respects and dues to those before you and just anyone, in general. It’s always a good mindset to have. It will pay off in the long run. With that said, whoever interacts with you, always make it a habit to return the favor. In the beginning, it will definitely feel like your efforts aren’t being noticed and there will be those scumbags who don’t carry the same values but that’s the beauty of the world and Instagram, diversity. If someone likes your posts, like their’s back. Think about it, someone took the time to give you their 1-2 seconds, and maybe more. There are over 1 billion people on Instagram and these are the users giving you their time. Time is a resource and attention is currency.

9.) The most important thing: Do IT! Action cures fear.

Shia LeBeouf wants you to just do it!
still from Shia LaBeouf “Just Do It” Motivational Speech → ktxc.to/yt-shia-labeouf-just-do-it

You can spend the whole day analyzing what you should and should not do but you know what, you won’t really know it until you try it out yourself. At the end of the day, these are all the things that’s worked for me. You will use my guide as a stepping stone and I’m sure along the way you’ll tweak things around to make it truly yours. There will be embarrassing, cringe-worthy times and even sad moments but that’s what it all about. Learning, sticking with it, and accomplishing. Good luck and keep it fun.

Enjoyed this article and want more details? Find out how I gained 2000 Followers Fast and don’t forget to share! This tells me what I’m doing is worthwhile and to write more posts like this that brings you value. In addition, please follow me on Instagram @chowyoulater and facebook.

How to get to 2000 Real Instagram Followers Fast

by

Instagram is frustrating. You post your best pictures ever and get a measly 20 likes while other accounts with candid snapshots of their toenail get likes in the 1000s. If you just started your account or need to break 2000, you’re in the right place. I’m going to show you exactly how to get 2000 Instagram followers fast and more without being spammy, the use of automation, or me selling you a service.

Last updated: May 22, 2020

Quick Links

Why should you take my advice?

Who is this doofus??

1.) I’m the most average person there is. I’m not some sexy beast, a billionaire tycoon, nor an outgoing person. My photos are not even that great (although getting better) and moving to a new city I have no connections. My network is ground zero. I had to learn everything from the bottom. If I can do it, I’m 100% sure you can too.

2.) A lot of advice you’ll find on the web are either outdated, click baity, or from those with so many followers they’re out of touch with the smaller guys/gals out there. And then you’ll get advice that assumes you already have an account with an established audience advising you to post as much as possible, pay for ads, go live, make your stories pop, etc. I hate those with a passion. In today’s Instagram climate, their algorithm is always changing because people find ways to exploit it. Thankfully, you won’t have to worry anymore because Rich got you! This year, I’ve been a mad man obsessed with figuring out the hows and whats of Instagram.

3.) I just reached 2000 Followers! It’s fresh on my mind. I started to take my account seriously on March 1, 2019 and reached my first 1000 on May 27, 2019 and 2000 followers on June 26, 2019. Most will wait until they’re cemented in their influencer status but I’m the opposite. These are the freshest strategies. Use it, and surpass me. I believe we’re all striving for the same things so we should all help each other instead of competing against one another. There’s a lot of opportunities for everyone.

4.) My approach have been tried and tested a thousand times. It took me 4 months to break 2000 followers, but for you it will happen in half that time if not earlier. For me, within those 4 months I’ve messed up, failed, learned everything on the go. I did all the stupid embarrassing things gurus have told me to do, like replying back to DM’s with a video. Oh, it hurts me whenever I think about the countless ghostings. Basically, you don’t have to be an idiot. My 6 Step Process is the most efficient way to get followers.

5.) My account is live and active. I feel like Deadpool breaking the 4th wall here. Follow me to see me grow in real time and on the other side, I’d like to watch you grow too. It’s mutual. Send me a DM if you’ve got specific questions. Heck after going through my post, you’re likely going to surpass me which would make me a very happy camper.

Milestones to Achieve

First, let’s go over the three hurdles you will need to cross. Many think becoming an influencer is easy but believe it or not, there’s a high barrier of entry. Your greatest assets will be persistence and a learning mindset. This section is divided into 3 phases since there are different strategies for each one. The fourth phase is anything beyond 2000 followers. That’s for another article as this one will focus exclusively on getting your first 2000 followers.

  1. Newbie: 0-200 Followers
  2. Rookie: 201-1000 Followers
  3. Starter: 1001-2000 Followers
  4. Beyond 2001 Followers…

Newbie: 0 to 200 Instagram Followers

“All by Myself, Don’t wanna be” – Celine Dion
Photo credit: Donnie Ray Jones

I believe the road to your first 200 is the hardest. It’s like being the new kid in school. All the groups have already been formed and you’re left twiddling your thumbs trying to figure out if you belong or not. You hate lunch period because it means sitting by yourself watching the other kids have the time of their life. I get it, everything is new and you’re just not sure what to do. I’ve been down that road aplenty. When I was a kid, I moved 6 times in my pre-adult years.

With that said, your strategy here is to:

  • Optimize your profile. This here is ever so important for newbies.
  • Post only niched photos. You want to set a great first impression. Make it clear from the very start what your account is about.
  • Follow everyone and anyone. The goal is solely to get to 200. You will be turned down a lot! You will have to get used to it. Expect a low number of follow-backs.
  • A note on follow-backs: At this phase, you should follow all the accounts back. You run the risk of losing your followers and may find yourself back to square one. It won’t matter much in the future.

Rookie: 201-1000 Instagram Followers

If you’ve exceeded 200, now you’re just known as the kid. The hardest work has been done. Your audience is going to be mostly business accounts and those looking for a follow. Don’t worry about it. It won’t matter soon. You just keep posting good content to your feed regularly. At this point, you may want to start being strategic with your follows as you don’t want an account full of spam followers. Here I suggest pivoting to following real personal accounts in your niche.

  • I recommend following those in your area, using either the hashtag or location search to see what they are up to and there’s always the possibility of meeting them in person one day.
  • This is a good time to start or find an engagement pod. If you’ve been extremely active and your comments are well thought of, others may have noticed and will invite you.
  • If you haven’t already, use this phase to develop your photography skills. You don’t need an SLR camera, an iPhone will do. Just learn the basics of composition, lighting, and themes.
  • At the 500 followers mark, if you haven’t already, consider switching your account to a business one so you can get access to your posts insights.
  • As mentioned in the previous phase, follow back the majority of accounts that follows you. The Follow for Follow Method is real, if you don’t follow them back you run the risk of losing your followers. Follow them and get to know them. In the later phases, you won’t need to worry about following back but for now, you need to build credibility.

Starter: 1001-2000 Instagram Followers

This is where accounts are starting to notice you because most are also within this range of 1001-2000 followers. We, as humans, tend to like others similar to us. This can’t be any truer as more accounts similar in follower size will begin flocking to you. Your followback rate will be higher and at this point, you should know your customer avatar(s). If not, now is the time to brainstorm.

If you’ve been practicing your content, engagement, and the Follow For Follow at around the 1800 mark is when you’ll notice all your hard work paying off. You’re going to see an influx of notifications and suddenly others within your niche will start following you. The real fun begins.

Beyond 2001 Instagram Followers

Hallelujah!! You made it!
Photo credit: Christina Rutz

There are more milestones after 2000. We won’t be covering them here but if you’re curious, check out my Cheat Sheet.

If you’ve surpassed 2000 followers, congrats!! You are now officially a nano influencer, the most powerful influencer group. Yes even above someone like Kim Kardashian. You’ve built yourself an audience. Your time is now more limited than ever. It will become more difficult to engage as your notifications will blow up and it’s a lot easier to get followers. Things will come more organically. The game has changed and you’ll need to have a new strategy.

In addition, you’ll meet others within your niche and finally make some cash! If sponsors haven’t gone out to you yet, you can go to them. I recommend going with products and services you actually use because it’s just unethical to recommend stuff without any basis. Here’s a table I’ve made that displays the types of agencies out there for you to parnter with:

The Concept: How to get Instagram Followers Fast

This section is divided into 2 parts:

I don’t care what anybody has to say. The most effective way to get followers fast is the Follow For Follow Method which I will cover below. Before that, let’s go over what makes an account successful and understand the theory.

The 3 Chows for Getting Instagram Followers Fast

You need to follow the rules to understand the mindset. Mindset is very important because it’s the difference between quitting and continuing. From the top level, there are 3 main concepts you want to execute on Instagram and that is to Grow the Account, Create Content, and Engage. We have to continuously partake in these activities no matter what. The allocation of resources and strategies may change but the components are going to remain static.

The next question to ask is “how?”. These 3 work together, without one it will be difficult to achieve:

Keep in mind, you need to have a solid profile and feed first. DO NOT put your profile on private. That’s a sure fire way to grow your account slowly.

How? Use these Techniques.

1. The Follow for Follow (F4F) Method

Image by ijmaki from Pixabay

This method has a bad reputation like a Ponzi scheme or a sketchy car dealership. I think what gave it a bad rep are the sleazy people behind it following and unfollowing once a follow-back has been established. It’s a waste of time for everyone so please, please don’t be sleazy.

There’s a ethical way to go about Follow for Follow: If an account follows you, keep following them. On the other hand, if the account does not follow you then, by all means, unfollow them. It sounds mean, but trust me this is like common law in the Instagram world. Give them a few days, not everyone checks their Instagram daily. Don’t confuse this with accounts that have followed you. You have the freedom to follow or not. You do not have to follow everyone that follows you.

The times you’re allowed to unfollow a followed account is if that person disappeared or they have no interactions with you. They’re basically following you to have a follower. It’s what’s called a ghost account. This action is optional and I’ll leave it to your own personal values and upbringing on how to go about this one.

With that out of the way, let me explain the Conventional way of Follow For Follow:

  1. Follow large accounts within your niche.
  2. When a large account publishes a post, you go to their likes and follow every single account that’s liked that post.
What Playing Hide and Seek in the dark looks like

I’m going to tell you doing that is a waste of time. It’s like playing hide and seek in the dark. Sure, you’ll eventually find your target but s/he might not be alive anymore after hiding under the bed for 60 years. Luckily, I discovered and created a much more efficient and smarter way.

Note: Instagram has been cracking down on automation and bot-like behavior so do not abuse the Follow action. If you follow too many during a given time it could signal to Instagram you’re a bot. Instagram will “follow block” you for a couple of days. When in doubt, be a human user. Ask yourself, What Would Jesus Do?

The Smart Way of using Follow for Follow

There are 2 main ways to find your followers:

  1. Hashtag Search
  2. Your Follower’s Followers

Let’s outline the steps for Finding Followers in Hashtag Search.

1.) The very first thing is to compile a list of hashtags over 1 million posts within your niche. 5 is a good number to start with. Once you have that done go to the next step.

2.) Go to the Hashtag Search tab.

3.) Type in the hashtag you found in Step 1. Go to the Recent Tab.

4.) These are the posts that are most recent. Aim for posts within 30 minutes. I consider those fresh.

5.) Go to each profile and check out their Follow Rate. If > 0.5 Follow. If < 0.5 move on to the next profile.

6.) Keep going through each profile until you reach a stale post (anything over 30 minutes). You can repeat steps 2-5.

Let’s Outline the steps for Finding Followers within Followers.

1.) This method can also be used in conjunction with the Hashtag Search. Say a follower just posted and you find them on your newsfeed. You check the time posted, and if it’s under 30 minutes then click on either their likes or comments.

I want to thank Jenna for letting me use her account for this example. Make sure to follow her @thepizzakween

2.) In this instance, I chose comments. I tend to go for those who are most active on IG so I prefer comments but you can also go to the Likes List.

3.) If the time checks, then go to that person’s profile.

I want to thank Jennifer for letting me use her profile. Make sure to follow her @chewfoodnow

4.) Check their Follow Rate. If it’s > 0.5 Follow. If < 0.5 move to a different profile and repeat process.

2. Optimize Your Instagram Feed & Profile

Before you even consider following anyone you need to make sure you look like a fully functioning human account. Who wants to follow a spammy one? Here are three factors into looking like a decent human being.

  1. Optimize your profile
  2. Have at least 20 posts in your feed.
  3. Take advantage of Captions and Tags

Optimize your profile

When you set up your profile, I stress on establishing a human connection. In other words, include where you’re from and where you’re currently living. If you’re part of a school or group, whether you’re a mom or dad, put it in there! You have no idea what words will trigger the right connection and that’s why your online persona is equally important. Overtime, as you understand your customer avatar, you will have a better understanding of what to put in your profile therefore experiment, play around, and update every so often.

Use a good photo of yourself for your profile pic. Something shot candidly or by an amateur. Using a professional image or logo can look spammy. Remember to choose wisely as you want to change your profile pic as little as possible. Over time, that’s how others will recognize you. Changing your profile pic too often can change your online persona as well as losing immediate recognition. Think of it as your own personal logo much like Nike or McDonalds. There’s no mistake as to what these companies are.

There are two (2) ways to get found in an account search. The first is your handle. The second is the first line in your profile. I’ve circled in red below.

You want to take advantage of that first line of your profile. You never know who is searching for what. I wouldn’t waste that line on my name and instead place it in the line below. I recommend using some keywords or search words you think your customer avatar is searching.

Publish at least 20 niched posts before F4F

You need to look like a real account. I’m pretty sure in your iPhone you have at least 20 pictures in there you can use. Don’t worry if the images aren’t great. Good is good enough. If you don’t believe me check out my Instagram. As you gain more followers and post more, naturally your photography skills will develop in correlation with your follower count.

Optimize your Captions and Tags

The most important tip about captions is to not be boring. Always answer the whys of the post. Focusing on the whats (such as a description of the pic). Tell a story, tell people why they should care.

  • Keep Captions brief @ 150 words max
  • Open the caption with an action word. Makes for an enthusiastic post.
  • Write a short story, answer the why’s of the post.
  • Use emojis. It’s hard for people to know what kind of personality (serious, humorous, etc) you have without emojis.
  • Ask a SIMPLE open ended question.

For hashtags, be careful. If you use (1) too many, (2) repeatedly use the same tags, or (3) use unrelated hashtags to the post you run the risk of getting shadowbanned which just means your posts won’t show up in the hashtag search. I recommend staying under 25 hashtags (the max is 30).

Secondly, tag other accounts to your post whether that’s in the form of a shoutout or a mention. When tagging you’re giving free exposure to other accounts for more followers. It’s a win-win 🙂

Lastly, make your post easy to be found. Geo tag your location, tag other accounts in the post. I think these are pretty basic and I don’t need to go into details.

3.) Optimize Your Comments and Likes

I learned this quote at #SMMW19. Smartest thing I did was going there.

One thing about me is I’m quite introverted so it’s always easy for me to make engaging comments. What I mean by “engaging comments” or “power comments” are those that trigger an emotional response. In my case, it’s always humor. For you, I recommend staying away from generic comments and going with a more engaging approach.

  • Avoid generic responses. Be human. If something is interesting answer the why!
    • The reason I’m commenting is because…. (the more descriptive and visual the better)
    • I like your _____ because…
    • Your image reminds me of…
  • Use Emojis, but don’t only use emojis.
  • If there’s an opportunity, tag the post’s subject such as company, IG user, etc.
  • Comment on something in the image sticks out.
  • Comment on something in the caption invoked an emotion.
  • Supplement Info: some additional tips, helpful info, advice.
  • Ask a question about the image
  • Bonus Points if you’re able to add in something you remember about them
  • Bonus Points if you can start a comments party by adding more peeps to convo

This is very do-able under 2000 followers. The advantage of having a small account is the relationships that can be developed into meaningful ones.

Get noticed! Bulk Like = Takes up the whole screen.
Follow @the.moodie.foodie

Another tip I’d like to introduce is the concept of bulk liking. If you were to like a post, you might as well like it at least 10 times as it will show up on that account’s whole screen. That is the best way to make an impression, especially to larger accounts who may not see you, this is the way to do it. Both accounts get something in return. You get seen, and they get more likes on their posts so it’s not an annoyance.

Note: Instagram has been cracking down on automation and bot-like behaviour so do not abuse the Like action. If you like too many during a given time it could signal to Instagram you’re a bot. Instagram will “Like block” you for a couple of days. When in doubt, be a human user. Ask yourself, What Would Jesus Do?

The Chowyoulater System

If you’re new to Instagram, chances are you’re going to be lost (like I was) OR you’re a IG veteran but found too many tasks to do. I’m all for working smarter, not harder. That’s why I’ve recommended a minimum of 90 minutes per day. Keep in mind, it’s a marathon and not a sprint.

My 6 Step Process

My guide was created for those who do not want to spend much time and effort (afterall, the title is How to get Instagram followers fast!) but reap the benefits of learning how to get Instagram followers fast. You will spend at most 90 minutes per session. But if you have the time, you can still use my process and go through multiple sessions in a day rather than one.

1.) Follow for Follow

  • See my Smart Follow for Follow Method.
  • For me, I mostly use Bulk Like as an appreciation tool. In otherwords, when a person has followed me back is when I’ll Bulk Like but if I’m courting them, I’ll give them one like and a follow. Think of it like going out on a blind date, and within the first 30 seconds you tell them you want to marry them, it doesn’t work like that.

2.) Post to your Feed.

At this stage of the game, you don’t need jaw-dropping images. Using a smartphone is fine. Your audience is so small it won’t really matter too much. That is not to say, not to use high-quality images. If you have the photography skills, display them. If you do not, take the time to learn and develop your craft. Having great content can only help you.

3.) Post to Your Insta Stories.

If you’re just starting out, I wouldn’t dwell too much using Stories just yet. In my opinion, if you do not have an audience, there’s no point in putting in the effort unless you want to learn and familiarize yourself. Try to get at least 1000 followers first and then engage in Stories. It’s not always the case but, expect an audience between 5-10% of your follower count.

With that said, after 1000 followers Instagram Stories are your friend, the friend that keeps on giving. If used correctly, it can be a powerful tool at your disposal especially when not many are taking advantage. It’s the best way to get noticed by bigger accounts and to develop relationships. It’s raw, uncut, and informal. It makes it a lot easier to engage with accounts you haven’t seen in a while or gets lost in the shuffle.

When you’ve reached 1000 followers, do the following:

  • Showcase your personality. Be raw. Be yourself.
    • Use music you actually listen to.
    • Caption your posts using words you use in real life (IRL)
    • Use GIFs to display emotion. These can really take your stories to the next level. I akin it to emoji’s on steroids!
  • Geotag, hashtag, shoutouts!
  • Use interactive stickers like questions, polls, etc.
  • Add value by showing some Behind The Scenes (BTS)
  • Promote your next post.

The most important thing is to keep it fresh and multidimensional! For example, don’t make every post be a question or a shoutout. Switch it up. User Fatigue is real. Don’t be a victim.

4.) Catch up with your Engagement Pod.

Engagement pods. The members in your pod are going to be your ride or dies, your day ones, your besties. When you accidentally post a picture of yourself riding a horse backwards with no clothes on, guess who’s going to be the first to support your image? Your Engagement Pod! My point is through thick and thin, they will support you. Return the favor with engaging comments and showered likes.

5.) Power Comments and Bulk Likes

6.) Followup with Notifications and DMs

You don’t want to be rude and not respond back to people. I don’t think anyone likes getting the cold shoulders. Acknowledgment and appreciation will take your account far. You can simply respond back with a comment or like their comment.

Typical Schedule

Worried that the process may take too much time? Not necessarily. If you only want to do the minimum then see the Time Allocated Table below:

If you want to spend the absolute minimum amount of time then the schedule above is what your time could look like. You’re more than welcome to move things around to cater more towards your schedule. The main takeaway here is you only need, at most, an hour and a half a day. It’s very doable. If the schedule doesn’t work for you, you can download and edit as you please.

Cheat Sheet Summary

You want a “Too long, Didn’t Read” version. I get it, I done wrote too much! Here’s a cheat sheet summarizing everything I’ve written but if you have time, I highly recommend going through my whole post to capture the mindset and rationale behind my madness.

DOWNLOAD HERE

Remember to subscribe to my blog so you don’t miss out any new articles. There will be more posts like this as well as advanced techniques you can learn. By sharing my article and liking my other social media platform tells me where I should focus on next. So if this article takes off, I’ll do a part 2 on how on 5000 followers. And if you have anything you want to share with me, feel free to send me a message or drop me a DM. I’ll happily publish it on this post and credit you. And if you already knew all of this. Great!! 👏🏻 What are you waiting for?! Get it done!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

I’m sure there will be more questions about my system and how things work. I’ll leave them here. If you have one of your own, contact me and I can publish in this section.

What is the Follow Rate?

Once you’ve surpassed 200 Followers, you should consider targeting your Followers. In the long run, your followers will matter. Whether you’re looking to become an influencer of some sort or you’re a business account and need clients you’re going to need real accounts. Here’s an example of how to choose your followers. Let’s say you come across my account.

3819/2008 = 1.9 Now Accepting Followings!

As you can see, based on the math, if you were to approach my profile you’ll see that my Follow Rate is pretty high at 1.9. A 1.9 is basically screaming, “Hey you, I’m obviously trying to grow my account dude, follow me and I’ll do the same!”

I already have 2000 followers, will this method still work?

Absolutely. But the question is how much time do you have? Assuming you’re active, at 2000+ followers it’s going to be a lot more difficult to keep up the interactions. That’s why if you’re a new and small account (< 2000 followers), there are advantages to developing real connections with people who are going to be your core audience. These are your Day 1’s! Theoretically, you can keep practicing the Follow For Follow method up to 7500 follows. That’s the max Instagram set it at. But eventually, you want to get to a point when you no longer need to do that. I titled my post at 2000 followers because at every milestone there’s a different strategy to implement.

Remember: “The definition of insanity is doing the same things expecting different results!”

What type of accounts should I follow?

Great question. There are levels to this question. Follow these steps. If you just want the answer go to Step #3.

  1. For your first 200 or so followers are going to suck a lot. You will need to get any followers you can get. For the first 200, follow everyone. You should aim for those in the same theme as you but honestly, take anyone you can get. Again, be grateful of anyone investing this early into you.
  2. Once you get around 200-300, hey you’re looking kind of good. Your posts are great (hopefully at 20 or more) and your profile (with your mug and optimized) is congruent to your feed. You look like a normal, decent account now. People won’t think your some bot or spammer.
  3. Now you’re ready! As a general rule of thumb, follow other accounts like yourself. Aim for accounts as high as 3x your followers. In other words, if you have 300 followers, the highest you should aim to follow is 900. Remember, humans like to be around other humans similiar to themselves.

How do you know who to engage with?

Instead of engaging with anyone and everyone we will be smart and identify those who are likely to engage back. If you engaged with everyone, it’s like shooting at a target in the dark. You want to shed some light a little bit so you don’t waste any of your resources. What you want to do is use the Follow For Follow Method to gauge the interest level of the user.

The accounts you want to engage with are those who are already engaged with you. That is the #1 rule; in other words, those who:

  • Like your posts.
  • Left a comment.
  • Sent you DM’s.
  • Go to your stories. Those who watched your stories, interacted and/or reacted.

Those are the accounts you want to engage with. Keep it simple. Correspondingly, that’s when to like and comment and will give you the most return on effort. 

This is where your content, personality, profile all will come together. If your profile is enticing enough, accounts will naturally want to follow you. 

Why 2000 followers and not 2000 likes per post or something else?

Blame this guy
Photo credit: President of Mexico via Flickr

Yeah, I agree it’s extremely superficial but it’s no different from FICO scores, GPA’s, SAT’s, etc. As a matter of fact, it’s the society we live in 😅. It’s not a number that defines you but rather more of a requirement and if you don’t have a certain amount of followers, as it becomes more of a concern than a compliment. Trust me, I’ve never been rejected so many times in my life 😭 by these agencies.

Although the number of followers you have is not the “end all, be all” it is an indicator of some sort and it’s what many sponsors will measure you by. In short, having sponsors is how to get paid for your time.

In addition, at around 2000 followers is when you will begin to see all the benefits of having an Instagram account. It’s a lot of work however at 2000 followers, almost all the strategies you’ve learned will become obsolete because there simply will be a new game to be played. Think of it like facing the different bosses and levels in Mario. It’s very much the same way.

If you really enjoyed this post, please subscribe to my blog and share it with others who need the help. I worked pretty hard on showing you how to get 2000 Instagram followers fast and with your help, I’ll know what topic to expand on. We’re a community and should help each other out. This tells me what I’m doing is worthwhile and to write more posts like this that brings you value. In addition, please follow me on Instagram @chowyoulater and facebook.