Nessa D

Hey y’all!

I will not lie. I have been struggling lately. I pride myself on keeping it real and being vulnerable with you all. So why stop now?! I’ve been blogging now for years and while I’ve seen some growth, it’s super small growth and lately, I’ve been getting little to no engagement. It’s the same case with Instagram. I’ve been struggling to get more followers. I will like to point out that I am grateful for all my followers on Instagram (if you don’t follow me, click here) and on my blog. Y’all really help to keep me encouraged. I thought by now I’d have higher numbers! I’m an impatient girl. I’ve always been told to just ignore the numbers. The followers will come eventually but like this has been some really slow growth. Sometimes I wake up thinking, what am I doing wrong? For this post, I will focus on Instagram since it’s a pretty big site and can bring in new followers and customers.

I won’t lie. Its kind of hard to see other people out there just soaring on social media while I’m making growth at a snail’s pace. Slow and steady wins the race. Success doesn’t happen overnight. Yeah I’ve heard that but it’s just so hard when I see come up with awesome content on social media while I’m sitting over here struggling. I also want to point out that it is not easy but we cannot I repeat CANNOT compare ourselves to other. Instead of seeing people as your competition or viewing them as them being better than you, see them as a potential partner or network with the person. Or maybe the person’s niche is way different from yours. Don’t beat yourself up over what you see on Instagram.

I literally woke up frustrated one day and wanted to give up. The proof is in the pudding. I haven’t been posting here consistently this past month because I feel…discouraged. I cried a little bit! I’m trying to learn what I can at the moment to get my engagement up but geez, this is really hard. I’m pretty sure others out there who feel the same as well. And if you are, maybe what I found online will help you as well.

I do understand that social media is changing. Heck! Instagram keeps changing it’s algorithim so much that even people with high numbers are seeing their engagement go down as well! I reached out to one of my friends, Ashley, who said her engagement went down and this girl has over 10K followers on Instagram (by the way, Ashley is starting her Summer Glow Yoga program soon. Check it out if it interests you. Its totally virtual). Anyway, I looked for advice on how to adjust and grow my account and the following tips is what I found. Maybe it will help you! These tips came from Tina Lee over at FullTimeInfluencer and SocialMarketingQueen both of whom are on Instagram.

Instagram

• Pinn reels and post to the top of your feed. If you chose your three most popular posts, new followers can get to know you, you can increase sales if you sell anything, and you can get new followers.
• Create up to 90 seconds with your reels. It gives you more time to show your expertise!
• Show your face on your stories! It can help you engage with and keep your followers.
• Incorporate videos. They help to retain your audience’s attention.
• Pick a niche and become an expert of that industry.
• Engage with your followers (5-10 a day).
• Post consistently. Whether its 3 or 5 times a week, show up!
• Diversify your content. Use reels, carousels, memes, video, infographic, etc.
• Do a collab with others. You’ll expose yourself to more people!
• Include a call to action in your posts

One thing I’m excited about is comedian’s KevOnStage’s (real name Kevin Fredricks) social media masterclass. He has a master class that can show us all how to gradually grow our followers and how to market ourselves. He doesn’t promise a miracle but he says the steps that he and his friends share will really help us with our social media growth. At the moment it is $100 (using the code FIFTY) and after July 1, the price will increase to $150. This man is a comedian, actor, he has his own studio, influencer, public speaker…this man does it all! He’s really humble and down to earth and whatever he does, he walks it like he talks it! Over 12 years he built an internet audience of over 3 million followers and 11 of those years, he worked a full-time job!

What advice do you have for others trying to grow their brand?

XOXO,

Nessa D,