Starting a business on Instagram may seem like easy work from the outside, but lemme tell you…that couldn’t be further from the truth!

When I decided to become a designer, I knew I was going to be using Instagram as my business portfolio–and COVID just set everything in stone in the virtual business world & made it so much more relevant. Don’t get me wrong, you can easily make a business on Instagram, but running & growing your business is a whole other story.

That’s why I LIVE by these tips and still incorporate them into my business every day! Want to learn how I grew my business on IG? Keep reading!

1. Post ConsistentlyThe #1 thing I would say that helped me grow my business in a very short time frame was simply posting consistently each week. It’s super important to post 3-4 times a week if you’re looking to gain a bigger audience. However, be realistic with yourself & your business! If you know you don’t have the time to produce that much content each week, then aim for 1-2 times & be consistent. You know what’s best for you–so just remember that consistency is key!
2. Add Valuable ContentThis might be more important than the first point. Not only is it important to post consistently (like mentioned above) but to also be adding valuable content. Yes, it’s great to post often on your business Instagram, but if you’re posting random crap that your target audience doesn’t care about, then it kinda defeats the purpose!
3. Use Relevant HashtagsI know hashtags can be confusing for a lot of people–including me! I knew what hashtags were, but I never had a strategy to using them. I would make a post and then think of relevant tags based on that particular post–not paying attention to any of the stats behind them. Shoutout to my VA Courtney, I now have hundreds of hashtags that are categorized and relevant to my business—so I’m actually reaching my target audience.

Some tips I’ve learned from Courtney:

You should be using 30 hashtags on every post

Try not to use the same 30 on every single post—switch them up

Use a variety of viral tags with some less popular onesOf course there are other ways to grow your instagram organically, but these are just a few things that I did which helped me grow my account. Also, it’s not all about the number of followers or likes you have. It’s more important to have 500 people follow you that are interested in your services and engage with you, then 50,000 that aren’t interested in what you’re offering and never engage. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself!