YAY FOR 10K! First of all, I’m so grateful to have hit this “milestone”, but even more than that, I’m just for all of you who I’ve been able to connect with because of Instagram. About 2 months ago, I hit 10,000 followers on Instagram. In this episode, I’m sharing some raw and honest thoughts, lessons, and strategies I learned getting to 10k followers on Instagram. We’re talking growth mindset, marketing strategies, creating viral moments, the coveted “swipe up” feature, and so much more!
Thank YOU for being here as a podcast listener (and many of you as InstaFriends as well)! I appreciate you. I’m grateful for you, and thank you for following along on this journey with me!
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1. You have to actually want to serve that many people and have the confidence to do so.
Have you ever considered how many followers on Instagram you think you can handle serving? How many customers? How much income are you comfortable with? All of it!
You likely have an unconscious threshold that might relate to how worthy you think you are, how deserving, what feels “comfortable” and “not too much”. It’s easy for us to see this with money… we call it “money mindset blocks”. Maybe you want to hit 6-figures, let’s say, but you are holding yourself back!
I think the same thing can happen with followers too. Maybe you want 10,000 or 20,000 followers but you’re scared of the scrutiny that comes with more eyes on your business. You could be just scared of being judged, or don’t think you have enough to say to warrant that many people.
Getting 10k followers on Instagram is similar to the money mindset. You have to be able to welcome more people into your audience. Just like you welcome more money into your bank account.
How many followers do you feel comfortable serving?
Sometimes the answer WILL BE LESS than others and that’s ok if that’s your goal. But if you’re trying to grow, and you realize you’re subconsciously afraid of a bigger audience, that could be holding you back.
Check your mindset on this as you’re trying to attract an audience on Instagram!
2. Swipe up isn’t your Instagram savior.
If you didn’t know, 10k followers on Instagram is when you can get the “swipe up” feature for stories. Similar to how you can finally rent a car at age 25, then there are no more big “age milestones” for a while. Right now on Instagram, before and after that number, there are no special perks.
You can get verified at any follower count and all the other features are available to everyone as well.
But take it from me, swipe up isn’t everything! It will not save your business, change your life, or anything else you might be thinking.
There’s a reason Instagram didn’t give it to everyone. It won’t work for everyone (and I mean that kindly)!
Let me explain…
Basically what I’m saying is that if you can’t get people to type in the link you are telling them to go to on their phone or computer, “swipe up” isn’t going to make a huge difference. If they don’t want to go to the link, then they don’t want to go to the link.
You have to figure out how to share links and get people to go to those links without the swipe up.
Yep, it’s possible. I did this up until I had the swipe up feature! I STILL do this because sometimes the link is better utilized on a desktop computer.
Make your strategy how to get people to go to links without it! The strategy of procrastination and “I’ll start sharing links more once I hit 10k” won’t get you very far.
3. You don’t need a viral moment to grow your following.
My growth to 10k followers on Instagram was slow and steady.
Here are some things that I think really helped me grow:
- Being a content creator outside of Instagram
- Creating shareable content that people then re-share with their followers and creates a chain of events
- Showing up on stories and with my face! I pretty consistently show up on stories 5 days a week. I almost always completely stop posting on the weekends these days.
- Brand photography
- Facebook/Instagram ads - I am cautiously putting this one but this is NOT A REASON to run ads! Don’t run them to grow your followers. I think that’s a poor use of ad money, but it is a nice byproduct of ads.
Here are some things that generated “fast growth moments”:
- Speaking at events
- Being a guest on podcasts
- Giveaways with other people who have a similar audience size
4. Spread out your audience!
This is a tip to tie your content back to your offers and don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Refer people back to your website, email list, products, podcast, blog, Youtube.
Don’t just focus on the growth of ONE spot like Instagram.
Even as I say that I want to remind you that you don’t have to be everywhere doing all of the things. You are in charge of what works for you and that probably won’t look like what works for other people. THAT IS OKAY! Do what gets you excited and spend time there.
5. Give people a reason to follow you.
Ask yourself and be aware of what those reasons are or what you want them to be, and that will shape the type of content you’re sharing.
Look at who you follow and ask why you follow them. Are you showing up in that same sort of way that attracted you to those people?
6. Don’t just post “to post”.
This has been a staple of how I operate on social media and email marketing for the whole time I’ve had my business. Say something with your content. Don’t post when you don’t have anything to say!
We hear the advice often to “post every day!” This definitely can help you grow, yes.
But if your content stinks because you don’t have anything to say but are posting anyway it doesn’t help you.
Let your posts be intentional and value-packed. I like to write the content when I’m inspired then post it later on. Sometimes I’m in a writing mode or a reels creation mode or whatever it is! Sometimes I’m not.
7. Serve your people right in front of you and don’t get caught up in the vanity metrics.
This is an annoyingly lovey-dovey tip, I get that. But this is seriously the best tip I can give you for growing a following. If you’re focused on “finally really showing up” when you hit 10k followers on Instagram, you’ll never get there because people won’t want to follow you.
Honestly, it is a little rude because even if you have 50 followers right now, those are actual humans who chose to follow you and who you can show up for.
So don’t think things like “well I’ll share that aspect of my business when I have more followers” - it just doesn’t make sense and isn’t fair to the people right in front of you.
Always remember that whatever your “goal number” is, it is just a number. It’s the human connection that matters, not the number. Don’t start seeing people as a number. It’s dangerous! Whether it’s that you’re seeing clients and customers as a $$ or followers as a vanity metric. Don’t do it. Check yourself. Stay humble with it all!
I hope you guys have enjoyed these tips and lessons I have learned from growing to 10k followers on Instagram. As always, come hang out with me there and let me know what thoughts you have about this episode!
February 2, 2021
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