Helpful Instagram Tips

Happy 1 year on Instagram by throwing it back to this white open back dress. 

 

It has been about 1 year since I started my Instagram and I thought it was a good time to share a few tips I learned a long the way & continue to learn. I wish someone would have prepared me for the journey. I can't believe it has been 1 year! Any Instagram guru understands how hard and frustrating it can be to figure things out so hopefully I can help put a few things into perspective.

white maxi dress

 

white flowy dress | fashion blogger

 

white spring outfit | spring outfits

 

white dress | long dress | fashion blog

 

spring sandals | white maxi dress

 

To start: 


1. Have a focus! Whether it is fashion, make up, photography, etc. 

 


Try and stick to one. When you try and mix a few things in between you end up not completely appealing to one specific audience. What do I mean? ok let's say someone follows you yesterday because of the awesome photo you posted. Then today you decide to post a photo of your food, or pretty landscape? Yikes, maybe the person who very excitedly followed you now has decided to unfollow you. No. but why, they didn't even give you a chance!? We all know the feeling and new bloggers slowly learn this along the way. Ok you might be thinking, "some bloggers do this all the time!" they share their pretty food trays and nice landscape views. They have mastered this & found their audience. it takes time. When you are starting don't overwhelm yourself trying to take all these different types of photos. So thats why I say focus on ONE thing. 

 

2. An easy to remember Instagram name. 

 


Try to stay away from fancy spelling or tongue twisters. You want the person to remember your name. Simple and to the point. So that the person looking at your photo knows what to expect. 

 

3. Good Lighting: too much sun, bad! to little sun, bad! 

 

So when do we find the time to take 
photos? It is a constant struggle. Usually in the evening before the sun goes down is when I take mine. But, I also have some favorite mid day spots close to home where there is shade most of the day. So that has helped a lot. Find 2-3 places you can take photos that are close to home or on the way somewhere. 

4. Photo Quality: Yes, hello DSLR cameras. 

 

If you don't have one try and get a camera lens for your iPhone to start or use the outer lens. Not the selfie camera lens we all know and love. I use Canon Rebel T3i (now they have the T5), and Canon Rebel SL1. Working on getting some separate lens for those pretty blurred background photos we all know and love. 

 

5. Captions:

Those dreaded captions. lol Make sure you tag the companies of the clothes you are wearing. (or make up) You want them to see you. 

 

6. Use Hashtags:

Describe the photo.  Ask yourself, If you were looking for this photo what hashtag would you use to find it?  How many hashtags to use? Too many? too little? How many? 

 

There is controversy on how many hashtags to use, and how it won't look "pretty" Ok well with that said you want people to find you! The only way they will be able to find you is with the use of hashtags. You put so much work into the photo. Make it count. ( somewhere between 15-25) is what I aim for. 

 


Where do we put the hashtag? A lot of people put in a comment section. (BUT instagram can start spamming your comments if they are too similar) what you end up with is a photo and no hashtags. If you love to create new hashtags for each photo this can work for you. 

 


With fashion some hashtags are too similar and putting them in a comment did not work for me. What I do is that I put it into the caption but separate it by using (. . .) or (- - -) sure, it doesn't look that pretty! but guys life is not perfect! lol we do the best we can in the end people that love your style will find you!

7. Save captions & hashtags on a note pad

 

Use a note pad on your phone to type out your captions and hashtags. Why? because if something goes wrong when you are posting it you can always just copy and paste it again. This has saved me so many times.

 

8. Schedule:

 Stick to a time of the day that works for you to post a photo. 

 

Whether that is morning or evening. Some articles say should post at least twice a day. However if all you can get is 1. You are good! Im still working on getting two a day. When you post two, think about the content you are putting out there for your followers to see. Having less "good" photos up is better than having more "bad" photos. Quality vs Quantity? Maybe so.

 

9. Followers! Our favorite topic. 

 

No there is no magic app to give you followers. We've all googled "how can I gain instagram followers" yea haha well most of those companies telling you to buy followers will only temporary give you followers.  They quickly unfollow within a day or two. Save your money. I have seen too many family friends go through this. Besides the whole goal of Instagram is to share your creativity with the world. It's not the number that should be the focus. Although, we can easily get caught up in this mind game, specially with the new algorithm Instagram uses. (different topic) 

What can you do? 

 

-Ask friends to give you a shout out. Some will gladly do it. Others won't. It's ok keep doing your thing. 


-Comment & like other peoples photos. This can take time! But we want people to see you. Thats the only way they are going to see you. 

 


-Follow people? well this is iffy a lot of bloggers will say don't waste your time. You want "genuine people" to follow you. Well here is the thing. if the persons account is private and you cannot like their photos. How will they find you? I tried to follow about 25-60 people a day with private accounts. I made some really good connections and some of them really liked my style. About one week every 2 months I would unfollow accounts that did not have the content I wanted to see. Don't go crazy unfollowing. Just casually 25-60 a day. It can be tedious and exhausting to do this but I found some amazing people by doing it & amazing people found me. So win win. 

 


-Collaborations: Do collaborations with other bloggers. I have only done one with @carriede_  Definitely plan to do more and looking forward to them. 

 


If you painfully, made it this far. Thank you for reading and I hope I could help. Just remember to stay positive. There will be days when you want to give up. Heck I wanted to give up just on Monday. haha Just remember to stay creative and true to yourself! Someone will like your style! Feel free to comment below with any suggestions or tips you learned so we can all learn together! <3

 

Thanks for reading loves! Please stay connected follow on Instagram and Twitter

 

xx,
Caryn 

 En Español

Como Manejar Instagram?   

 

Hace un año decidí empezar instagram. Hoy quiero compartir con ustedes una estrategias que me ayudaron mucho y como me hubiera gustado que alguien las hubiera compartido con migo. Vamos empezar  

 


1. Escoje un tema para enfocarte 

 


Si vas a compartir vestuarios, maquillaje, o fotografía recuerda de poner fotos nada mas de esas cosas. Se lo que estas pensando, pero muchas bloggers ponen fotos de comida, o casas. Es cierto pero también ay que reconocer que ya an tenido mas tiempo para encontrar su audiencia. El problema cuando estas empezando es que si empiezas a poner fotos de diferentes temas la gente que te sigue por tu estilo a la mejor no quiere ver tu desayuno. Tener una casa para enfocarte también se te puede hacer mas fácil. 

 


2.  Escoje un nombre para tu Instagram que es fácil de recordar. 

 


Trata de no usar palabras trabajosas o difícil de escribir. 

 


3. Se conciente de la luz. No quieres que haga mucho sol ni tampoco muy poco sol. A si que antes de que se baje el sol es buen hora. 

 


4. La calidad de las fotos es muy importante. Hay que usar DSLR cámaras. Yo uso Canon Rebel T3i (ahora ella sacaron la T5)

 


5. En Los subtítulos asegurase de mencionar la(s) compañía(s) cuando hables de los detalles de la ropa. 

6. usa #hashtags usa palabras que tengan que very con la foto, para que gente te pueda encontrar. Mínimo se puede usar 15-25 hashtags, Muchos bloggers no les gusta usar tantos pero esta va hacer una de las únicas maneras que gente te va a poder encontrar. 

 


7. Guarda los subtítulos y hashtags en tu teléfono. No trates de escribirlos todo directamente en instagram porque vas a tardar mucho tiempo y si ocurre un problema no vas a poder guardar tu subtitulo. 

 

8. Escoje una hora al día para publicar en instagram. típicamente publica dos veces al día. pero si no puedes aunque sea una vez al dia. 

 

9. Seguidores: quien no los quiere?! 

 

Lo mas importe es que no usen las apps que digan que les va a dar seguidores porque lo que pasa es que se los dan pero temporalmente, pero en un día o dos después se pierden. así que mejor guarden su dinero. Esto le a pasado a muchas amistades mias. Y es importante que recuerden el punto de Instagram es de poder compartir su creatividad con el mundo.

 


Entonces que pueden hacer? 

 


-Pídanle a amistades que les den un shoutout on instagram. Si no pueden pues no se preocupen. 

-Comenten y Like fotos de otras personas. Es la única forma que van a ver su instagram. 

-Siguen a seguidores?  Muchos bloggers dicen que no que mejor no. Pero yo encontré que me ayudo para las cuentas que son privadas. Encontré muchas amistades que les gusto mi estilo. Y esa es la audiencia que no la van a ver porque no se puede comentar o Like las fotos. Me tomaba como una semana cada dos meses para parar de seguir a cuentas que no tenían cosas que yo estaba interesada. Casualmente paraba de seguir 20-25 seguidores por hora. 


-Colaboraciones : traten de juntarse con otros bloggers y trabajen en algo juntos para extender su audiencia. 

 


Es mucho trabajo y puede ver instantes que se quieren rendir. Traten de mantenerse positivos y diviértanse con Instagram.

 

Gracias por leer! Por favor manténganse conectadas y aseguren de seguirme en todas las redes sociales. Instagram y Twitter

 

xx, 

Caryn