Introduction

Instagram is a great way to connect with friends and family and stay up-to-date on what’s happening in the world. But it can also be used for business! Whether you’re starting a small business, or just want some side cash, Instagram is a great way to reach out to potential customers. I’ve helped a lot of people start their businesses through Instagram, so here are my top tips. Follow these steps to get your new business up and running:

1. Start with a great account name

One of the first things to consider when creating your Instagram account is what name you want to give it. Should you use your own name, or the company name? It’s a good idea to find a balance between these two options that will help people find your account and make it easy for them to remember.

One thing that helps with both of these factors is coming up with a memorable username, which usually consists of some combination of numbers, letters and symbols (but not spaces). This shouldn’t be too hard—just try thinking about how many options there are! Here are some examples from popular brands:

• Nike – nikeglobalnews

• Starbucks – starbucks_news_us

• McDonald’s – mcdonaldsnews

2. Build your brand with a strong bio

Once you’ve chosen your profile name and bio, it’s time to get started. Your bio can be used as a way to tell your story and attract new followers. A strong bio should not only promote your business or products, but also reflect the personal side of who you are as a person and help others connect with you on a deeper level.

Before diving into writing your own bio, ask yourself: what do I want people to know about me? What would help them understand my personality better? What kind of experience would they have if they interacted with me on Instagram? These are all questions worth asking when coming up with an effective description for yourself in the app’s bio section.

Here are some things NOT so good for bios:

• Promoting products/services – This doesn’t give people any insight into who you are as a person; it just shows them how much money you’re trying to make from being an entrepreneur!

• Being too promotional – Even worse than promoting stuff is promoting stuff without talking about yourself at all! This makes people feel like there isn’t much else going on besides whatever it is that makes money for everyone else (and probably not for them).

3. Use the right hashtags

Next, you’ll want to use hashtags that are relevant to your content. This will help people find your posts and follow you. It’s also an easy way for people who are interested in a specific topic to find more posts on it from other users.

A good rule of thumb is: if someone could search for a hashtag, then it’s probably worth using for promotion purposes as well.

When choosing which hashtags are right for you, look at what’s trending right now or check out other popular accounts within the same niche as yours who may have already been using them successfully in their feeds. The goal here is finding hashtags that have enough traffic flowing through them so they’ll result in some new followers! You can also try looking at competitor accounts or accounts with similar content types (e.g., fashion bloggers) as inspiration when brainstorming hashtag ideas—they’re likely going after many of the same keywords already!

4. Craft an effective profile

A well-crafted profile is one of the most important aspects of building an Instagram presence. In addition to being your first impression on potential clients, it also shows them what kind of person you are and how you want to be perceived. Here’s what you should include:

• Profile picture: You can set a custom image for your profile picture if you have one that reflects who you are or what business style takes precedence in your creative endeavors (a photo of yourself at work, perhaps). If not, use a stock image that conveys professionalism without seeming too stiff or corporate—the last thing anyone wants on Instagram is an account that looks like it belongs in LinkedIn.

• Bio: The bio section isn’t strictly necessary, but it’s an excellent way to provide more information than can fit into just a few lines in the profile itself. Think of this as the “About Me” section on Facebook; use this space to outline any relevant details about where/how/what exactly you’re doing with your account (e.g., “I’m into furniture restoration”). Your goal should be getting people interested enough so they follow up with questions later!

5. Post quality content consistently

Posting quality content consistently will help you build a loyal audience over time. Don’t be afraid to post multiple times per day, but don’t spam your followers either. Try posting at different times of the day and week, but make sure it’s consistent so that people know when they can expect your updates.

You don’t need to spend money on advertising for this strategy to work well for you—it all comes down to consistency and quality of content!

6. Interact with others on Instagram

It’s important to be social on Instagram and interact with people. Here are some tips for getting started:

• Respond to comments and messages from followers, who will be more likely to trust you if they see that you care about their feedback.

• Like and comment on other users’ posts in your niche, so they see yours as well (and hopefully like/comment back).

• Use the comment feature to start a conversation with another user or group of users—it’s a great way to build rapport and establish yourself as an authority figure in your field.

• Use the direct message feature for private communication with individual users; this can lead into further collaboration opportunities down the line!

7. Link your other social media accounts

If you’re starting a business and have created an Instagram account, it’s a good idea to link it to your other social media accounts. This allows people who are following you on Instagram to see updates from your other networks without having to leave the platform.

Using a link shortener like bit.ly is helpful here because they tend to have better analytics than their competitors (like goo.gl). You can set up IFTTT or Buffer (or any other tool) so that every time someone follows you via Instagram, they’re automatically added as followers on Twitter or Facebook or whatever else makes sense for your business objectives!

By using the strategies above, you’ll get the most out of Instagram, and start seeing results!

• Use the strategies above to get the most out of Instagram

• Use the strategies above to start seeing results

• Use the strategies above to build your business

• Use the strategies above to build your brand

• Use the strategies above to monetize your business

Conclusion

Instagram can be a great platform for your small business. I hope these strategies will help you grow and succeed on Instagram, whether you’re new to social media or have been using it for years. As I said before, it’s important to remember that not every strategy will work for every brand—you have to find what works best with your audience and go from there. Good luck!

-Tara