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Do you love taking pictures? Are always glued to your phone, updating every social media platform you can. Well, did you know that being glued to your Instagram account can pay off? Marketing on Instagram allows you to land a side job making money and free stuff just from posting beautiful pictures. Here’s how to make money on Instagram!
Table of Contents
How to Make Money on Instagram
Start Your Instagram
If you already have an Instagram if a bit of a following you can skip this part. If you are looking to start up an Instagram, you will need to download the app on your phone. Pick your name, related to what you will be posting about, and fill out your profile.
From there you want to post your first picture! Make sure the photos are your own or that you have permission to use them. If you have the authorization to use someone else's make sure to tag them.
Now Let's talk hashtags. They will be your best friend as you build your account. Tag your pictures with relevant hashtags and use as many as you can. You can add them in your description or in the first comment I haven't seen a difference in either
Then start following relevant accounts. If you are in the travel niche, follow other travel blogs. If you are a crafting page, then follow other crafting pages, etc. Then interact with them but don't be spammy! Like their pictures and when you comment to add to the conversation!
Build Your Instagram
Next, we want to continue building your account!
Post A lot of Pictures
Your Instagram feed is your “social media” resume. The more you post, the more engagement you get, the more brands will reach out to you.
Make sure you are posting regularly at least once a day, use the hashtags in every picture and use different ones!
Be Active
Like I said above make sure you are interacting with other people. When people are commenting on your post make sure to answer them or even just like their comment. Interact with accounts similar to yours but don't be spammy!
Increase your Followers
The more followers you have, the more companies will want you to campaign for their business. Most businesses or brands generally want you to have at least 5,000 followers, and some require up to 10,000 followers. If you have a large following, the process of becoming a social media influencer is much smoother.
That said just because you aren't at that benchmark yet doesn't mean you can't work with brands! If you have the niche, they want to reach and a VERY active account they will want to work with you!
Make Money on Instagram
Now let's get to the fun stuff, making money!
Become an Unpaid Brand Ambassador
It’s always best to work your way up slowly as opposed to jumping right in. You can apply to be an unpaid brand ambassador which sends you freebies for promoting their products. The application process is the same as becoming a paid a , but the odds of getting accepted are much easier, and help you build your “social media” resume! Here’s a place to start:
- Skinny Bee Tea: Sign up here to receive a 14-day detox package to promote on your Instagram account.
- Ready Pulse Influencer Network: find opportunities to be a brand ambassador for brands you love.
Become an Instagram Influencer
In order to become an Instagram influencer, you have to apply to brands and companies that connect to Instagram influencers with brands. You will offer to promote a product or business on your Instagram with fashionable pictures, and the company will pay you a small compensation for helping to promote them. However, become a brand influencer is a competitive field. Most companies only accept 1% of applicants, so if you really want to make money on sponsored photos, you’re going to have to make your pictures the best. Here are a few places to start getting paid for taking pictures:
Get Sponsored Yourself
You don't always want to sit in a database with the sponsored post companies above, and if you are smaller, then you want to head out and start pitching the brands yourself.I know this is intimidating and you may have no idea where to start. I highly suggest check out Pitch Session: The Blogger's Guide to Pitching Partnerships, Collaborations, and Sponsored Posts it's a great eBook (and only $5!)
Affiliate Links
You don't have to get sponsored to make money on Instagram. You can post products you love with an affiliate link and earn when someone buys that product or one on that website from you!
- ShareASale: Find companies you want to work with, sign up for their affiliate program, get approved then start promoting. In some programs, it's easier to get approved if you have a blog or website.
- Ebates: Refer people that love deals & discounts, then get a commission.
- Stylinity: great for fashion bloggers. When people shop using your link, you'll get a commission.
- Amazon: The biggest retailer, you can link to almost anything via Amazon!
There are many more, and I even listed my top 8 favorite affiliates for bloggers but those 4 are a great start on Instagram!
Disclosure
Remember that you HAVE to follow FTC regulations. This means when you are working with a sponsor your posts need to disclose that. On Instagram, that means using either the #AD or #Sponsored hashtags and tag that business.
If you are posting an affiliate link make sure you disclose that as well you can do that by posting (affiliate) after the link or using #affiliate
Make sure to disclose because you don't want to lose your account and possibility be fined money by the FTC.
Promote Your Business
If you already have a business set up whether online or a brick and mortar business, you can use Instagram to promote it and drive sales. Make sure you sue your business name as your Instagram name and have your business link in your profile.
Then showcase your products, new products, popular products, and your favorites! Use hashtags that apply and put up a compelling but personal description!
Etsy shops have great success on Instagram, in fact, I bought one of our favorite quilts via Instagram!
If you have handmade items, there are quite a few Instagram accounts that will share your items to their audience gaining you even more exposure!
Manage Others Instagram's
Another great way to make money is to manage other people's or companies' accounts. You can do this once you know what you are doing and have a proven track record. You get paid per month for posting picture answer questions and building the Instagram account. You can use services like Grum that will make managing multiple accounts easy!
Sell Instagram Accounts
There are people out there who are good at building Instagram accounts. They build them up and sell them and do this for a living! You would build up say a food niche Instagram,travel, or even a funny one. There is no limit to the niches you can build up. You will need to have 40,000+ to sell on most sites. The accounts need to be all organic growth (no paid followers), and the accounts need to be active.
How much can you make? It depends on how active the accounts are and the niche. I've seen 700,000 accounts sell for $30,000! On the smaller side, I've seen 150,000 accounts sell for $3,000 but also 300,000 accounts sell for only $600. I've also seen accounts with only 21,000 sell for $500.
Where can you sell the accounts? There are many places but check these out.
What niches do best? It seems fashion and travel tend to get the highest payouts, accounts like marketing get lower payouts.
Have you found another way to make money on Instagram? I'd love to hear about it!
I also want to point out one of my favorite ways to make money at home is via blogging! See what you need to know to get started blogging.
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