Is it too late to grow on Instagram?

A couple of weeks ago I was speaking on stage in Dublin. I spoke about the importance of purpose and how to genuinely connect to people through your personal brand. I was approached by so many audience members telling me they were only there to represent the companies they worked for. Because they thought it was anyways "too late" for them to grow a following from scratch on Instagram.

I thought the same. I was stuck at the same follower count for almost a year.

Yes I had then already made it to 20k followers. But I was stuck. I knew not even 10% of those 20k would actually become clients, engagement was at almost 1% and the content formats I was known for didn't work anymore.

No one cared anymore about my free tips, value-packed content, shot on HD camera with crisp audio, talking-head style.

I thought the same as everyone at that event:

"I missed the hype"

True.

The hype is over.

But growth isn't.

The difference?

People don't respond to any type of content anymore.

They don't follow for trends anymore. Just because you went viral, doesn't mean you're growing. At least not relevant (client-potential) followers.

Have you ever seen people who have ultra-viral videos - I'm talking 5 videos that got a 1 million views - and they only have a couple of thousand followers?

The thing is:

You don't need to go viral to grow followers.

I haven't had ONE viral video on my Instagram, and I am growing 10k followers every month since November.

This week I’m hosting a free training to give you an inside look into my personal brand strategy and growing online is going to be a big part of it.

To prepare you, here are already five steps to get you started

5 principles to grow online in 2024:

1) Document Every Day

I'm talking, take 3-5sec snippets of every key activity you do. At least 5 snippets/day.

Pouring your breakfast cereal, opening your laptop, watering your plant, going to your car, sitting down at the coffee shop.

Imagine how many of those snippets you would have after one week?

And now.:

Use them to create content. Broll over a voiceover video, images for your stories or LinkedIn.

And suddenly you don't have the "I don't have anything to post" -excuse anymore.

TLDR

Why: To have more content and get into a good routine.

How: Take videos and pictures of what you do every day. Share photos on your story and use videos for your posts.

2) Quality Videos

When I talk about quality, I don't mean you have to have a huge production team.

Checklist:

• Shoot in 4k on your iPhone or camera,
• Have an external mic (if you do voiceovers, your phone is enough),
• Learn about lighting and the rule of thirds.

Why: Quality makes you stand out because everyone is making content. It helps you reach more people, the system likes it better, and it shows who you are.

How: Make one video every day, 7-20sec is enough. Try different things to find what works for you. Your videos should start with a problem, offer a solution, and explain it. Make the video into a loop that people want to watch again and again.

3) Stop Teaching

Why: Saying "Here are 4 ways to do XYZ" doesn't work anymore. You can google or ChatGPT that. People don't want to be taught; they want to connect. This especially matters if you want loyal followers that turn into future clients.

How: Share personal stories that show how you see things differently, especially about your work or what you love.

Change "Here are 4 ways to do XYZ"

To "Do you know X problem? Here are 4 ways that helped ME XYZ"

4) Delete Followers

If someone is following 3000 other accounts, guess how often they see YOUR content?

Exactly.

Why: Removing followers can actually help more people see your content. It helps you find the right audience (the ones that will be WAITING for you to post!)

How: Get rid of bots, fake accounts and anyone following more > 3,000 people.

5) Kill the Ego

Here's my ego-killing story...

I thought "Oh I'm a Keynote speaker, of course people want to see my talking-head videos where I share valuable tips"

Eh.

Wrong.

They couldn't care less. And it hurt my ego.

A lot.

Instead, I had to ask myself "Wait a minute. So they don't like those videos, but they like my voiceover videos right?"

Let me do more of those then.

Why: Don't take things too personally. Without ego, you'll try more new things. If you try more, you experiment more. If you experiment more you learn faster (what do people like/dislike?). If you learn faster, you grow faster.

How: Share even if it's not perfect. Post something every day. Use the option to hide how many likes you get.

Click here to sign up for this week's training.

Sina

P.S. If you’ve ever attended a free Masterclass of mine before, you know I have ZERO fluff - so make sure the time’s blocked off in your calendar so you can focus. This time is for you.

This training has the power to change your entire 2024 if you let it.