How To Build a Following on Instagram as a Photographer by Aaron Adusei - HTML preview

How To Build a Following

on Instagram

As a Photographer

Written by

Aaron Adusei

Disclaimer

The author has made every attempt to be as accurate and complete as possible in the creation of this publication, however they do not warrant or represent at any time that the contents within are accurate due to the rapidly changing nature of the Internet. The author assumes no responsibility for errors, omissions, or contrary interpretation of the subject matter herein. Any perceived slights of specific persons, peoples, or organizations other published materials are unintentional and used solely for educational purposes only.

This information is not intended for use as a source of legal, business, accounting or financial advice. Al readers are advised to seek services of competent professionals in legal, business, accounting, and finance field. No representation is made or implied that the reader wil do as wel from using the suggested techniques, strategies, methods, systems, or ideas; rather it is presented for news value only.

The author does not assume any responsibility or liability whatsoever for what you choose to do with this information. Use your own judgment. Consult appropriate professionals before starting a business. Any perceived remark, comment or use of organizations, people mentioned and any resemblance to characters living, dead or otherwise, real or fictitious does not mean that they support this content in any way.

There are no guarantees of income made, traffic delivered or other promises of any kind. Readers are cautioned to reply on their own judgment about their individual circumstances to act accordingly. By reading any document, the reader agrees that under no circumstances is the author responsible for any losses, direct or indirect, that are incurred as a result of use of the information contained within this document, including - but not limited to errors, omissions, or inaccuracies.

© 2017 How to Build a Fol owing On Instagram As a Photographer

01 So You're a Photographer?

Content Is King

Being Consistent

Image Quality

Aesthetic Theme

02 Hashtags and Collaborations

with Models

What Hashtags Should You

Use?

Col aborating With Models

03 Reaching Out To Big

Accounts

Getting Featured

Paid Shoutouts

04 DM Groups + Instagram

Pods

Creating + Joining Groups and

Pods

Summary

Resources

So You're a Photographer?

Taking beautiful photographs and capturing So sit back, get your pen and paper out and

memories is something mil ions of people

fol ow along as we go over some of the

embark on doing every day.

fundamental tips and suggestions into

creating a strong audience for your

If you've ever seen some of the magnificent

photographs using Instagram.

photographs that professionals take of nature,

architecture, or even food, is it any wonder why

people become inspired to take some of the

same type of photographs themselves?

Learning photography is an art that is very

peculiar about your surroundings. You need the

right type of light, the perfect view fil ed with

your muse -your inspiration- enough colour,

and not too much shadow.

And of course, as you develop your skil as a

photographer, you'd certainly enjoy people

raving about your images.

This guide is designed to help you navigate the

monstrous social platform, Instagram, and aid

you in discovering how to be seen and how to

build your own unique style.

Content Is King

The Internet may be relatively new, but content is not. It's been the

basis of how brands communicate with consumers for ever. In the

realm of social media, content acts as the fuel of any platform;

Delivering value to those that seek it from those that create it.

Now we all know that your content has to be great in order to be seen,

but it also has to be relevant. The Instagram algorithm has become

extremely sophisticated over the past couple years and it groups

accounts based on niche. This is influenced by many different factors;

the hashtags you use, who you engage with, and what types of posts

you like and/or comment on frequently.

Being a Photographer is an art that is based on what you capture with

your perspective. Not only is your art a reflection of yourself, but it's

also something that is meant to bring viewers into your world. Never

put out anything that you don't completely love. You fans will love you

for that.

Being Consistent

One of the most important aspect of building an Instagram (after

creating great content), is being consistent and posting often. the IG

algorithm hates inconsistency, such as long hiatuses in between

posting.

You really have to be proactive in how you plan and execute your

posting method and it always helps to have a load of photos that you

can schedule to go up on your account.

As you gain a consistent flow in your content you'll begin to see some

growth, with the main advantage being that there is more of your posts

out there gaining traction from the Instagram community

Image Quality

Of course, the quality of your image is the next deciding factor in your growth. It's

imperative that you have high quality images for all your content. Instagram actually has a

mechanism by which it can detect the quality of your image.

As the platform condenses your image (for reasons pertaining to their servers), the

original quality will be affected. Don't worry, as this is something they've done on

purpose. Just make sure your image is hi-res and you don't have to worry about anything

else.

Another key aspect to give attention to is image cropping. You may notice that Instagram

posts are cropped to a perfect square and this seems to be the most ideal size of photos,

so try and stick to that. You can press the expand button (bottom left when you are

posting) to make sure the entire image is shown and it will automatically be fitted in the

square. The measurements for Instagram posts are 1080 by 1080px. Don't be afraid to

include borders in your images, that's fine as well. Just be sure to make the image that

resolution.

For mobile photo editing there are tons of options. You can try an app called Polarr, which

is free, but has paid premium options. Use it to edit anything imaginable, from lighting,

cropping, exposure, saturation, and many other options.

Aesthetic Theme

When you look around Instagram and view different photographers' account feeds, what

do you see? You'll most likely notice most of them have an extremely distinctive theme

and aesthetic that speaks to their style.

Something that makes them stand out amoung the plenty of other photographers on

Instagram.

This is something you need to develop, both with you editing style and posting method.

Decide on what suits you and stick with it until it becomes cohesive. If you use filters

(either from IG or from another app), use one or just a few that are similar in taste. If you

use borders on your images, use them constantly and make it a theme for your account.

It's perfectly fine to have different themes. However, remember that Instagram is a visual

platform, that means you need to align your feed in away that falls easy on the eyes and is

interesting to look at.

If you want to use multiple themes (for example, landscape photos and then urban

photos), post them in 3's (have each theme cohesively aligned as one theme per line). This

gives your feed some different looks, but formatted in a nice looking way.

Develop your voice and create your own visual style. There are apps that can help you in

designing your feed before hand so that you can envision how you'd want your feed to

look like. One is UNUM (iOS and Android app store).

Hashtags

and

Collaborations

Understanding the key

elements that influence your

account's reach and utilizing

partnerships to help yourself

get ahead.

What Hashtags

Should You Use?

Hashtags are an integral part of using social media,

especial y on Instagram.

If you want your content to be seen then you should

definitely be using as many as possible. As of now the

limit is 30 per post, but it's recommended you don't

exceed 26-27. Make sure that they're in the body of the

caption as wel . Many people do this by puttin a "." on 4-5

line breaks to keep it clean.

Another thing to mention is that although Hashtags are

good, not al are created equal. Do some research on

relevant hashtags to make sure the overal nature of the

content in them is what you are going for. Look at

accounts that inspire you and see which ones they use.

Then take some time to research them and find similar

ones.

Alternting your hashtags is also very imporant, as you

don't want to jeoporadize the chances of being

shadowbanned; when Instagram blocks your content from

being seen with hashtags because you've used the same

ones over and over.

Reaching Out to Models

for Col aborations

What's a Photographer to do if you don't have anyone to

take photos of! Mind you, I'm not saying you have to shoot

portraits if it's not your thing. Landscape and Urban

photography do very wel on Instagram, but to give yourself

an edge, you should try mixing it up and implementing the

same aestethic feel into different shooting styles.

You can do this through col aborating. Basical y you want

both parties to benefit from doing this col ab as this al ows

you to get a finish set of photos without spending any extra

money. The photographer gets free photos that you can

add to your instagram/portfolio and the model gets free

photos that they can use in the same regard! A win-win

situation for everyone. Just a note, it's better to approach

upcoming models rather than established ones, as they're

more likely to agree on unpaid col aborations.

Take some time to look up local y buzzing models in your

area by using the location search option and reach out to

them. Ask them to col ab and that you won't charge for the

shoot. They'l probably be interested and then you'l have

the chance to shoot some photos.

Reaching Out To

Feature Pages

In the Photography niche there are tons of big

Another way of getting featured by big pages is

pages that consistently feature other

to utilize something cal ed a Paid shoutout.

photographers, both big and smal . This is their

Often times you'l see in a page's bio they'l

theme and they are always looking for real y

have something like "for business inquiries DM

great shots to share.

or Email". They may have their email in their bio

or an email attached to the account (if it's setup

In order to be found by these pages you have

as a business page). They may take business

to be seen. Most pages have their own

inquiries through email only or through DM.

hashtags that they use to curate content from

and there's a smal chance that you may be

Reach out to them and ask them what their

featured by using these tags often. This is an

rates are and for what types of posts. It could

unpaid feature (or commonly referred to

be a temporary post (which is when the post is

simply as a feature) because you're not paying

removed after a certain amount of time), or a

them directly to be featured. However, there is

story shoutout is often times a great option as

a lot of competition with this method, as these

wel .

hashtags are added to often. Make it a habit

anyway to use feature account hashtags often

Prices wil vary, but general y you'l end up

and you can even try tagging the accounts in

spending around $30-$50 (USD) for a good

your post directly as wel .

shoutout per account. Analyze the account

using SocialBlade to confirm that it has a

steady, built fol owing. You can also use INK361

to analyze the accounts engagement rate.

Instagram DM Groups

+

Pods

Creating and joining

Instagram groups are an

integral part of growth

hacking.

Instagram DM Groups

This is another sort of col aboration, but instead this takes

place on IG directly.

An Instagram DM group is a closed-knit group of avid

grammers that aim to Like & Comment on al members most

recent posts as they appear. Getting this type of engagement

soon after you post is a great thing because the IG algorithm

takes it into account and expands your content's reach.

Start by messaging very active accounts and asking if they

are in any DM groups and if they have any space in them. If

not you can attempt to create your own.

To attempt to create your own IG DM groups, try messaging

active accounts this;

"Hey [name], I really love your feed, your work is

amazing.

Would you like to create a DM group to help each other

grow? I'm messaging other talented people and I think

we could all help each other.

Let me know if you're interested!"

If done diligently, you can create a group and get everyone

engaging on your posts! Of course you have to lend back the

favour. Make sure to recruit talented photographers, models,

or socialites that have great content AND that post very often

and consistently. The worst thing about a DM group is one

that is not active and rarely ever checks out your posts.

Instagram Pods

Instagram Pods have been around for quite some time, maybe

a couple of years, and they are an interesting phenomenon in

the IG growth world.

A more aggressive form of a DM group, Pods are larger

groups that work together to game the algorithm. Usual y

hosted on another app like Slack, Kik, or Telegram, they're

designed so that members post around the same time (usual y

referred to as "Rounds" and engage with each other's posts in

waves. This tremendously helps your account grow and with

enough effort and consistency can even trigger a snowbal

effect.

Although they sound heaven-sent, they are in fact difficult to

find, with niche specific groups being even harder. There are

free and paid groups, but it al depends on where you look.

An example of a Instagram Pod is one cal ed, FOCUS. It's

made especial y for the Photography niche and caters to many

types of photography such as Travel, Landscape, Urban, and

Portrait.

If you look hard enough you can find other groups on

Facebook groups, Reddit chats, or Telegram chats as wel .

Summary

So what you've learned about today is the basis of keeping an Instagram account active

enough to be seen and implementing techniques to grow it.

- Make sure your content is super high quality, cropped wel , and has a cohesive

aesthetic. If you plan on making a theme keep it similar and coherent.

- Post often and avoid long hiatuses (3x a day is recommended, but try at least 1 post per

day).

- Reach out and col aborate with models and socialites that have the type of look & feel

you're aiming for. This wil help you with creating a lot of content and having a lot to post.

- Research relevant hashtags and use different bunches of them for your posts to get a

little more exposure (rec. 25-28). Be sure not to overuse the same ones as to avoid a

shadowban.

-Reach out to big photography pages by using their hashtags and/or contacting them for

paid shoutouts.

- Message people that have great content to inquire about DM groups or make a plan to

create your own. As many as you can!

- Find Instagram Pods (or commonly cal ed 'engagement groups' to give your account

another big boost. Google them or check Telegram groups.

- Keep up your photography and keep taking amazing photos!

*Bonus*

Do's and

Dont's

Key practices to keep your accounts

in good status and also contribute to the photography

community

DO these things

- Spread Out Your Posts - if you post multiple times a day,

you should spread out your posts so that they are 3-4 hours

apart. Posting frequently within short periods of time defeats

the purpose because it may not reach as many people as

possible..

People use Instagram at different times of the day, so its best

to even your posts out so that you can capture the attention of

more people.

- Engage With Your Audience - this can include replying

back to interesting comments. Your fol owers may ask you

questions, inquire about the location in your post, or ask you

what camera you used. It's great to use social media to

actual y socialize. That's what it's for!

- Collaborate With other Photographers - we spoke about

joining forces with upcoming models, but you could also

col aborate with other upcoming photographers! Maybe you

could run a photo-meet together if you're in the same area.

You could also edit each others photos and mention each

other on your respective accounts.

- Format Your Feed - Instagram is a visual platform, so that

means your images should be visual y appealing. In addition to

that, the way your images are uploaded should also be visual y

appealing. Stick to a theme and make it a point of emphasis in