How I Hit 10,000 Instagram Followers

I’m very excited to announce that I hit a major milestone for my blog over the weekend! I hit 10,000 Instagram followers, a number I set my sights on a few months ago and have been working my butt off to reach! Lucy has also been working overtime, posing extra cute for photos to get everyone’s attention. How did I hit 10,000 Instagram followers? Let me tell you about my journey and a new service I’m offering to share my expertise with others.

Social media is a love/hate relationship for so many people. And, I totally feel ya! I deleted the Facebook app from my phone about six months ago and barely look at the news feed on my computer. There just seems to be so much negativity there. Without Facebook in my life I had all this free time, so I immersed myself in Instagram. Thanks to so many awesome dog friends on there I looked forward to checking my feed and commenting on everyone’s cute photos every day!

There’s something about the community I’ve found there that I could never create on Facebook. Since you can connect with complete strangers (unlike how Facebook encourages you to only connect with people you already know) , I was able to find accounts that I looked up to (like HoneyIDressedthePug and ByKatiHanson) and start interacting with them until I grew the relationship and could eventually consider them Instagram friends!

When I started posting to Instagram years ago I didn’t have any kind of strategy for my posts. Like most people, I posted interesting photos of my life. Or at least, what I considered to be interesting! Last year I began treating my account like an extension of my blog and planned out what I would post, and when. This change made a huge impact on my account! Now if someone looks at my profile they instantly understand that I post about style, dogs and DIY, which in turn directs them here to my blog for more content.

HOW I HIT 10,000 INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS

Clearly, my love of Instagram turned into a little obsession and I started to set goals for myself — hit 5,000 followers, get 500 likes on a photo, and then hit 10,000 followers! Six months ago I never thought I’d be hitting the big 10K by now, but over the weekend I made it happen! Lucy and I celebrated with a photoshoot with some giant 10K balloons and Rose Colored Creative. I love being able to celebrate achievements like this! Thank you for reading this post and sharing in the excitement with me and Lucy!

I want to share my Instagram expertise with more people so I’m launching a new service in my social media management business (in addition to blogging, I’ve been a social media consultant for about 8 years!). I created InstaMistick to offer positively engaging Instagram strategy to creatives, solopreneurs and brands. I know that Instagram is the best place to share your passion with your audience and potential customers and can’t wait to start helping others reach their goals.

I have a range of packages available to fit any size business (even bloggers). And my favorite part is that all the meetings and consulting can be done virtually so I can work with my Internet friends all over the world! Check out the full list of services on my social media consulting website. Of course, there’s a new Instagram account to go with InstaMistick, and you can follow me there too!

WHAT ARE YOUR INSTAGRAM GOALS? IS SOMETHING HOLDING YOU BACK FROM REACHING THEM?

I’d love to hear about what you’re working on or your struggles with your Instagram account. I hear from so many women about how overwhelmed they are by their accounts. But I really think that with an approach that comes from a positive place, you can create an account that you love and that brings you many new followers and customers! Let’s work together to make that happen!

All photos: Rose Colored Creative taken on location at the Omni William Penn Hotel Pittsburgh.