Most everyone knows what Instagram is, but there are some who do not.  For those that do not know what Instagram is, Instagram is an online mobile photo-sharing, video-sharing, and social networking service that enables its users to take pictures and videos, and share them either publicly or privately on the app, as well as through a variety of other social networking platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Flickr (as Wikipedia describes).Now, the question for most business owners is "How do I effectively use Instagram as a marketing business tool?"  Another question I have seen is "Can and how do you receive clientele from Instagram?".  I would like to share some tips and introduce to you a program that can provide you a detailed strategy you can apply to your profile to see the kind of results that turn into business connections and clientele. First, lets focus on the tips I have discovered. PROFILE � � 📷Want to add a caption to this image? Click the Settings icon. If you are a business owner (which I assume you are because you came this website), please make sure you have made your profile a Business  profile.  Instagram came out with the business profiles a few months ago. As with any change people of course are hesitant and question it.  Here is the reason why I feel you should switch to business. Simply put ... make it easy for potential business connections and prospective clients to contact you. When you switch to a business profile, contact / email / directions buttons are displayed.  When clicked it gives the viewer the option to call, email or get directions. This is GREAT if you have a physical location.  This allows your audience to directly connect with you vs having to take more than one step to contact you. If your profile is still the personal profile and not switched to business, then to contact you they would click on your profile website link, then click on the website contact tab, then fill out the contact form. This is where many possible connections are lost.  We live in what I like to call a "Instant microwave" generation.  We want everything instantly at the touch of a button.  Increase your chances of being contacted by making the process simple and instant. If you have the right processes in place for your business, it should not matter how a prospective client initially contacts you.  To convert to a Business Profile: Go to your profile and tap '...' in the top right corner to open up the options. Under Account, Tap 'Switch to Business Profile'. On the Connect Your Facebook Page screen, you'll see all of the Facebook Pages you're currently an admin on. On the Set Up Your Business Profile page, review your business's contact information, make any changes and tap Done. Last tip for your profile,  I found its best to have my user name as my company name but my profile name as my name.  This creates a personal tone and viewers subtly get introduced to the creator of the profile, instead of having to search your posts for your name. SETTINGS In addition to the contact button, under your profile name it will now say a business category (it will match the business category of your business fb page). I love my profile being labeled ' Event Planning Services'.   Just another way to instantly let your viewers know what your profile is about.  Make sure you link your business FB page to your instagram profile under ' business information'.   This is what allows the category to be displayed on your instagram account.  To change your Page's category, go to your FB business page: Click About on the left side of your Page. Click Page Info. Hover over the Category section and click Edit. Start typing a category and select it from the list that appears. Or select for the available drop-down menu. (this depends on how you originally setup your FB business page). Click Save Changes. Hover over the Subcategories section and click Edit. Start typing a category and select it from the list that appears. Or select for the available drop-down menu. (this depends on how you originally setup your FB business page). Click Save Changes. As far as your description, make it clear who you are (your profession), what you do (a tagline is great) and a call to action (call us, email us, visit our website etc). FORMAT There are 4 parts to an instagram post. The picture The Description The Location -- whenever you can, be sure to tag a location.  It will put your post in the feed of that location.  So when you visit a venue, vendors office or networking event or hotel... TAG the location.  And YES tag your own business location when you are taking shots in your office when you have consultations or meetings. This is one of the most forgotten parts. The Tags -- if you are with someone else, or at a location be sure to tag their instagram profile!  Or is there is someone you want to truly see your post or people you want to notify about your post.  Tag them in the photo!! I hope you find this information useful!! Please do leave a comment below with your feedback!!

I would like to take a moment to share just a few tips I have learned about Instagram.  Before I start, let me say there is not ONE way to build your instagram.  There is not a right or wrong way. However there are tips, tricks and strategies that if used consistently will give you business results.  My mom always says if you treat it like a hobby you will get hobby results. Treat it like a business and you will get business results. I'm applying this train of thought to Instagram.  It can be an amazing business tool!  How do I know... because 12 of my brides this year in 2016 all found me on Instagram!!  Yes ... it is true!  You can get clients from instagram.  Wait ... what... a free marketing tool... get out of here!  Can you tell I'm excited about this fact. Its also a FUN business tool at that.  There are some pretty simple things you can do to bring more exposure to your Instagram Profile. I'm not going to talk about what you have already heard i.e. - how to make your posts beautiful.  Instead let me share these: REPOST: Seems simple enough right!? Well I bet if I asked you how often you repost... you probably do not do this much at all.  However it is a GREAT way to gain to open the opportunity for a new connection, new follower and possibly even have one of your posts reposted.  The key here is not to repost from someone you know or are already connected to.  Research hashtags and reach out to someone new!!  Be sure the post fits within your brand or can somehow be tied into what you do.  When you repost be sure to repost using Instagram repost tool.  This keeps it within the algorithm. Also be sure to keep the authors name on the post.  I recommend making this a habit.  Maybe once a week.  Pick a special day like Share Sunday or Feature Friday. HASHTAG TRENDS: Speaking of Share Sunday and Feature Friday, posting photos that relate to  hot  trending hashtags also increases your profiles exposure. It gets your photo mixed in with the many other photos people are searching.  The more consistent you are the more you will see engagement increase on your feed. There are so many trending hashtags there is no way I can list them all here.  But I can list some very popular ones for the days of the week. The key is to be creative.  Find a way to use these popular hashtags, but have them apply to your business.  I will list some samples below to give you an idea. Monday                      #MCM or #ManCrushMonday -- (for wedding industry professionals) -- highlight one of your grooms, or a tuxedo/suit look or company #MotivationMonday Tuesday #TransformationTuesday  -- use this hashtag to talk about a before and after experience.  Maybe a DIY project, or your office before and now clean, or new branding etc #TravelTuesday #TuesdayTreat ​ Wednesday #WineWednesday  --  this as a great way to explain how you wind down from a hard day at work or get creative and create a little graphic with a wine glass and a quote  #WCW or #WomanCrushWednesday #WisdomWednesday #Women2Follow #WayBackWednesday Thursday #TBT or #ThrowbackThursday #ThankfulThursday Friday #FBF or #FlashbackFriday #FeatureFriday -- great time to REPOST #FridayReads -- share books or articles that have helped you along your business or books/articles you know your audience would benefit from Saturday #SaturdayNight #SaturdayFun #SaturdayFlow #SaturdayShenanigans --- even though we are business owners.. there are still things that happen... be transparent and share Sunday #SundaySelfie #SundayFunday #SundayMorning -- talk about your upcoming week... or show your favorite coffee mug/pillow/pets etc.  What are your Sunday morning like? #ShareSunday VARIETY I will be bold and say it ... if you just post beautiful photos your feed will be just that ... a beautiful gallery..along with all the other beautiful galleries on instagram (so how does that make you different or stand out?)!! However if you want to receive prospective clients it takes more than a beautiful feed.  It takes some personality!!  Clients hire you not because of your services (because there are many businesses that offer the same services).  They hire you for  YOU!  You are what they get sold on.  Therefore showcase some of you in your feed.  Its ok to post a selfie.  Its ok to post random raw videos. Its ok to post your shopping addictions.  These are the things your clients will attach too.  They may see something you have in common and that will make them want to connect with you. I asked the brides that I have worked with who found me on instagram, what attracted them to contact me from my feed.  I was told by one bride my video of my singing a praise and worship song in my car on my way to meet another couple caught her attention.  Another bride said she loves seeing my DIY posts and she got excited about me creating something for her wedding.  Another bride said she loved seeing me around other vendors and said she felt I had strong connections based on that alone.  The thing is ..  none  of my 12 brides said  "Because I loved all your beautiful photos". Keep variety in mind when you are creating your posts!! CONSISTENCY Even if you are not going to post everyday (which I actually recommend you do), at least post on some type of consistent basis.  Same days each week, or alternating days each week.  You build an audience by building expectancy with them. SERIES � � 📷 This is a new fun thing I have recently tried and have seen great results with.  A series is a type of post you do on a consistent basis more frequently than other posts. Check out my series #loveinspiresseries (the white boxes in a straight line on the left side) You can see an example of what I do.  I post a quote of love or marriage everyday!! Yep.  Everyday. Its my first post, so they always line up with each other.  As you can see in this photo.  One line going straight down with the same consistent look.  Every post is formatted and designed the same .. just the text changes. What a series can do is set you apart, bring new attention and followers and even add something special for your clients. It also draws attention to your page because at just a glance your viewers will be able to see a creative visual. I intend to create these posts into a little photo chat book for my clients welcome bags!  Who doesn't love quotes of love and marriage :).  If you blog on the regular, you can create a blog photo series on Instagram. If you have consistent tips you can give ... turn that into a series.  If you have a daily to do list you can turn that into a series. Whatever you do, be sure you design it to match your branding and one that can be repeated over and over again.   Have fun with this.  A series can turn into many things.  Firstly it will gain you new followers.  I forgot to post for 2 days and I had direct messages asking where my #qotd was!!!  People follow and pay attention to your page.  Give them something fun to follow! RETURN THE FAVOR Just as you expect people to like and comment on your feed ... return the favor and like and comment on their page. Here is the rule I have set for myself ... I comment on everyone's page who took the time to comment on my page.  So if someone leaves a comment on one of my photos... I click their username and leave a comment on one of their photos. I also go through my newsfeed and try to like at least 20 photos.  Why 20 ... because I would love to have 20 new likes on my photos a day.  Amazingly it works.  When the people you follow see you actively supporting them... they return the favor.  So don't just focus on your own feed.  Support those around you. Leaving comments on others feeds makes others aware of your page as well.  Its all about ways to extend your exposure.  RESPOND This one is extremely basic but it really does increase your comment engagement!! Whenever someone comments on your post.  Respond to them and tag their name in the response.  Guess what... they might just respond again .. and next thing you know you have started the conversation.  More people will comment now too because they want to get in on the conversation. In addition, instagram has added some new updates.  It is now easier to respond to comments.  No more having to type @ and remember how to spell the user name. Simply press reply by their comment.  You can also now like/heart others comments. Whenever IG adds a feature I'm almost certain it will effect engagement and their algorithm. So ... be sure when you are liking/commenting on someones feed... take a couple extra seconds and like some others comments to help increase their engagement. Also be sure to like ALL comments left on your posts!! Well there you have it... 7 things you can work on right now to start seeing results.

As many of you have probably seen there are many fake, spam and troll accounts on social media. Part of the maintenance you should practice on your Instagram accounts to is paying attention to your followers, specifically spammers. Lately I have noticed different types of spam accounts and spammers that are constantly following and commenting on my pages. Thought I would share them with you so you can be sure to BLOCK them when you see them. The importance of blocking these accounts is so that you and your brand are not associated with them. In addition it can directly affect the status of your profile. The instagram algorithm also takes in consideration your followers. This is another reason why you should not focus on the follower count, but the engagement of your followers. Think of your viewers as well. If they are viewing your page and see a lot of spammer comments it could be discouraging to them to like or comment. Think quality of engagement vs quantity of likes/comments/followers. First Spam Account Type: Get Followers Pages. The pages that display a lot of ad posts stating they can get you followers and boost your profile. Don't follow-back, don't pay for it, and definitely BLOCK these. Second Spam Account Type: Spammer comments. Now these may be actual account holders but they are using a spammy system or software that leaves comments on your photos such as “check out this link” comments that don't match or make sense to your actual post. Example I post a text quote and a profile comments "Nice photo" or "Nice shot" "Great profile. Check out my page and like/follow me". But they haven't like or followed your account Third Spam Account Type: Have you noticed a spread of these hair and weave accounts. Talking about bundles and weave and lace fronts etc. Nothing wrong with hair accounts, but these spam accounts are setup exactly the same and you want to avoid them and BLOCK them. Fourth Spam Account Type: The most popular one, pornographic or sexual content accounts. Instagram did do a really huge clean out of these types of accounts last year. But there are still a few here and there so be sure to BLOCK these accounts as well. Happy BLOCKING!!!