Are you on Instagram?  If you are and would like me to follow you, please comment below your insatgram handle. Mine is saraanne_photography Instagram is the social media of choice for many small business owners.  Here’s why?

It’s free (though it might change in the near future) but for now it is and it gives fair play to all your followers.  It’s also an easy way for audience to engage with you. It’s quick and easy for them…most of them doing it on mobile devices and with more than 300 thousand active monthly followers it’s an awesome platform.

So here are some tips if you want to boost your instagram followers:

1.  Post on a schedule.. you can figure out when your potential clients are likely to be on and post then.  My clients are usually on in the afternoon/evening or early morning…during the day, they are busy.  So I try to post in the morning (first thing) and then in the late afternoon.  The other thing that you can do is post the same type of post on a certain day, such as:  Words for Wednesday’s or Tuesday’s Tips etc…your audience will grow accustom to these…and look forward to them.

2.  Don’t use too many hashtags:  Most experts say that you shouldn’t use more than 3 per post.  Sometimes people use them as a way to communicate…don’t do that…you want your hashtags to be relevant and also interesting.  You want a hashtag that is specific to you.  I use btownphotographer (though now there are several other photographers that use it …which is okay…so I use sapclients, sapbeachsessions and saraannephotography

3. Interact with your audience:  Remember social media is social…that means you need to be active and interacting with your audience.  It’s a good rule of thumb to like and comment on several of your potential a day.

4.  Make your photos consistent:  Use the same filter if you use one, or the same frame…when your audience goes to your feed you want it to look consistent, its part of your brand.  Make sure you photos are good…don’t just post to post, post beautiful images!

5.  Make your content interesting:  post behind the scenes, favorite quotes, close up details, etc…these things are interesting to your audience.  Part of this is also making sure your profile is interesting.  Say something about what you do, but also about WHO you are.  Make it fun…don’t just put I’m a wife and photographer…you want something that makes someone want to follow you!

So with that…I wanted to share that tomorrow, some friends and I are giving away $255 of paypal cash on INSTAGRAM!  check me out at 10:00am for details…but this will be fun and you could win $$$$

Switching gears:

I was able to photograph this sweet family at Holden Beach a few weeks ago.  So much fun!  I loved the way they connected with each other, their laughs, their sweet kiddos and these three brothers…I loved it!