2,000 Followers on Instagram! Started From the Bottom!

This weekend I hit 2,000 followers on Instagram. Now, you might be thinking…..girl, bye! That’s basically 20….but hear me out! LOL! It’s really a milestone for me because I began my new page at the time I launched this blog in November of 2019. I have around a 500 follower count of friends, family, acquaintances, etc. on my personal account. It was important for me to branch out on the platform away from my run of the mill photos of craziness in day to day. Just Jaywalking is my brand and a way for me to reach followers with content that is specific to me and what I’m loving. I steadily watched the number and thought to myself, I’d like to make it to 1K by my blogiversary, November 2020 and I got there way before! Here are my humble social media tips and warning….THEY ARE NOT THE USUAL! These are what worked for me.

I stopped looking at the follower count and instead focused on the FOLLOWERS. I concentrated on followers that engaged with me a lot and supported them as well, thanked them and got to know them. You know the saying, ” I fool with those who fool with me!”….yaassss THAT WAY! I got a tribe!

Analytics are cool but ummmm, yeah….I don’t focus a lot of analytics. A following of my size, it seems to not really do anything but give me anxiety. I asked myself a question….Do you love blogging today as much as you did when you started and only had 200 followers? (Mind you, that was literally this same time last year. It popped up on my Facebook memories last night.)…..the answer was ABSOLUTELY, so I continue on. I’d do this no matter what because I like it. It’s not a make or break type of issue. Of course, the more I grow, the more lucrative it becomes and that’s the goal but I’m enjoying the journey.

I found a network of other creatives by joining Facebook groups for influencers and that really stepped up my game! I learned a wealth of knowledge, gained followers, figured out tech issues, which is a definite problem of mine and met beautiful souls I consider friends….however, there can sometimes be just an overload of information, geared toward advice that is more valuable for influencers with larger followings and not micro influencers, which are the bulk of the group members. For example, I’ve seen some members give the advice that if you have under 5k followers on Instagram, you have literally no chance of grabbing brand deals. Well, that’s a myth, proven by the fact that I did a collaboration with national retailer, TJ Maxx this past Friday for their Instagram Stories and at the time I got the deal, I had less than 1,500 followers! Now, was it a huge payday….no, but it was paid and I felt that it was fair!

All good connections aren’t made online just because that is where your content is located. I network in person….yeah, that’s right! I literally tell people I meet in passing about my blog and Instagram! I have no shame! LOL! If I’m out shooting photos and somebody slows down and asks me what I’m doing (this happens a lot, along with horn honking)…With the quickness, I say, “I’m a blogger! Go follow me at JUSTJAYWALKING1!!!” If I’m wearing something and random person says, love your bag….”Awwww thank you! I’m a blogger, follow me on IG!” And it WORKS!

I say all this to reiterate that there are no set rules! Not just to this…. but to anything! Do what feels right and you will make progress! Rather it’s in home life, your career or any other goal! Make your own rules!