Why you Should Never Build a Business on the Back of Another
I don't know how many times I have to tell you folks that the whole Instagram craze thing is a fallacy.
First of all, the whole follow and un-follow trick is bullshit, and will only net you shit followers who will most likely never buy your wares.
I don't know if it's that you guys and gals are all just new, and didn't experience first hand the great misdirection of Facebook throughout the early years of the 2010's.
If that's the case, let me elaborate:
Throughout those early years, Facebook pages were an absolute gold mine. My posts were earning upwards of 2,000 to 3,000 likes per post, at just a measly 14,000 to 16,000 total following, with tons and tons of comments... then the great algorithm of destruction came in or around the year of 2014.
Reach was decimated, and I'm talking real bad. Pages became ghost towns over night, and Facebook was handing out free lunches no more. The era of pay to play had begun, which I was totally content with, because as a business owner, I know our businesses exist to make money... just like Facebook was trying to do.
Where the problem is with pay to play, and how Instagram will follow in the same footsteps:
Now that everyone's reach is the same, essentially whoever has the biggest pocketbook filled with ad dollars will inevitably win over the eyes and ears of potential consumers, essentially making the little guy obsolete.
Most everything in business is made up of cycles, and soon Instagram will cycle in the same tactics and techniques as its daddy Facebook did a few short years ago.
Then, of course, when things change for the worst, and everyone is in doom and gloom mode... in comes all the gurus of the internet to "save" us with their knowledge. All the Tai Lopez's and Gary's of the world feed off of this change via their 69 step programs and the like.
Stay clear of the bullshit my friends, and please stop building your businesses atop other businesses. You don't have the keys to your own playground when you do this, and it will always end up biting you in the ass.
The first major sign that the end of Instagram's free lunch is nigh, is the change from reverse chronological time based posts, to and algorithm based system like what happened to Facebook. The second sign, is Facebook forcing all businesses, celebrities, and the like to switch to business accounts.
At this point, everything will be in place for Facebook to finally pull the plug on free reach across Instagram.
Anywho, this post was inspired by all the poor bastards who are constantly posting in this sub-Reddit "I have 4,000 followers on Instagram, how do I monetize?" related posts.
Followers don't mean shit, no matter what some guy in his garage tries to tell you. At the end of the day, it's all about quality engagement my friends... and you'd best remember that.
Source - https://www.reddit.com/r/Entrepreneur/comments/6a4t8x/why_you_should_never_build_a_business_on_the_back/