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How to earn money with Instagram

How to earn money with Instagram
Chris Roper

Chris Roper

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In an increasingly digital world, there are countless ways to earn some cash on the side, and maybe – if you’re lucky – turn a passion or hobby into a full-time job. Anything from blogging to drawing webcomics can earn you a fortune if done right. Even posting on Instagram.

Yep, you read that right. You can earn money just from posting your pictures on Instagram. Seems crazy, but it’s simply a case of finding your niche, and marketing it well.

So, could you earn money from your Instagram posts? While it’s unlikely you’ll reach the dizzying heights of the world’s highest-paid Instagram stars (unless you’re planning on becoming a Hollywood A-lister anytime soon) it’s still possible to monetize your Instagram feed with a bit of planning.

Almost all of the cash that’s earned on Instagram comes from sponsored posts, where brands and businesses pay a user to promote their product in a paid-for post. So, how can you get a slice of that action? Let’s look at some helpful tips on how to earn money from your Instagram posts.

Followers

An obvious point, but you must have a large number of followers to be considered by sponsors. But how large is large? The biggest and highest-paid stars have 1 milion+ followers, but you don’t necessarily need that many to get paid. Recently, we have seen the rise of the micro-influencer, smaller accounts with less than 20k followers, which brings us to our next point.

Engagement

Although followers are important, what’s more important is your followers’ engagement – the number of people who view your posts and click the links. If you’ve only got 20k followers, but your engagement rate is 5 percent, that can be very appealing to businesses and brands. They would pay less to advertise and get a higher rate of return than an account with a million followers but only 1 percent engagement.

Businesses are even more interested if you have a well-defined, dedicated, and unique fan-base. But how do you get these fans?

You’ve got to…

Find your niche

According to figures released by Instagram, the app has over 500 million daily users. Why should any of them check your account? You have to stand out. This means putting some thought into your profile, and what you post on it.

Choose a profile picture that really encapsulates your channel, and make it pop. Write a strong bio, that sums up who you are and what you do. Why not use some emojis on your bio? Pictures tell a thousand words, and a carefully placed airplane emoji has more impact than writing “I fly around the world in airplanes”.

Next, think about your channel’s purpose. Cooking tips? Traveling advice? Yoga instruction? What makes you different from all the other users who post stuff exactly like you? You need something to differentiate you from everyone else, while still being familiar enough for people to latch onto. This can be as simple as an open attitude to travel and health, or as complicated as only posting pictures of floors or doors.

Be consistent

What’s important once you’ve found your niche, is to be consistent. If you only post pictures of doors, don’t suddenly switch it up to cats – your users will wonder what’s going on. Businesses want to give money to reliable accounts that deliver consistent results, and one of the best ways for them to find you is if you’ve become a consistent source of great content.

#hastags #hashtags #hashtags

People either overlook hashtags, or do them badly – #blessed #lit #justsaying – but when used well, hashtags can help grow your fanbase, and connect you with businesses and brands.

Using the five dot trick, you can hide those unsightly #tags from your post, but still include as many as you like. This helps your posts reach the widest possible audience. Remember, mix it up – try adding ten general tags, five to connect with other accounts, five for the location of the picture, and five for the picture itself. Get creative, but try not to go too over the top, #k?

Remember: be patient, and be consistent. If your content is great, and you keep on working to connect with more fans and followers, eventually businesses will begin to reach out to you, and you might be one of the lucky people who get paid just for posting pictures. Good luck!

Chris Roper

Chris Roper

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