Download 15 Completely Editable Instagram Square Designs
When you download these 15 templates, do your own thing with them, and then post them on Instagram…you’re gonna look like a million bucks!
Have you ever wanted to have some really Instagram designs, but just don’t know how to get started?
Instagram for Beginners with Directly Social
Want to learn Instagram but don’t know where to start?
I got you!
Here’s a training that will teach you everything you need to know about:
- setting up an Instagram account
- maximizing your profile
- maximizing the link in your profile
- how to post photos
- how to post videos
- how to use Instagram stories
- how to use Instagram highlights
- printable cheat sheet
- keyboard shortcuts
- how to follow and find your friends
- how to link your Facebook business page
- how to turn into a business account
- apps to use for Instagram pictures and stories
- and sooooo much more!
Instagram is one of the FASTEST growing social media platforms and YOU need to be on it.
Whether you haven’t set up a profile yet, you’re just getting started, or you’ve been at it for awhile…you’ll find some tips and tricks in this training to help you learn the platform.
You can purchase this training for $39 by clicking the BUY NOW button below and then requesting to join your training group (link below) after you’ve paid for the training. You’ll have immediate access to the training and you will have lifetime access to it.
STEP 1:
STEP 2:
Request to join your training group, CLICK HERE:
TRAINING REVIEWS:
My Instagram presence has completely changed thanks to Melissa’s training video! I’ve noticed a dramatic increase in followers and activity since learning the basics. I’m looking forward to the next part of the training series!
~Jen Kramer
Very informative and useful. Knowing that mixing up the posts between business, personal, and hobbies will get you better interaction & likes (with the proper hashtags) has helped my instagram activity TREMENDOUSLY. Beware though, you will look at everyone’s 9 grid from here on out lol.
🤔 to 
😎 overnight because of this training! My follower count has gone up, interaction is up, my understanding of how to use the app has improved dramatically, and I’m enjoying planning out strategic ways to use it for business purposes. Directly Social with Melissa Fietsam is the BEST!
5 Instagram Tips to Increase Followers
We’re going to talk about 5 tips to increase your reach on Instagram.
But before I get started, I would like to give you a little bit of perspective on 6 of the top social media channels/apps:
Instagram is growing by leaps and bounds. And if you’re not jumping on board, you are missing a BIG piece of the social media pie!
Instagram has over 600 million active users. The population of the United States is HALF that number! YOU, as a business owner, have to play where your customers play!
Whether you like it or not, Instagram is quickly becoming a powerhouse that is here to stay. Facebook bought Instagram in 2012, and has been integrating new features ever since. Just in the last few months, they’ve released new features almost weekly. And here’s a tip, by the way: make sure you’re updating apps in your app settings. Because you won’t see those new features unless you are constantly “updating” apps in your settings.
My own personal Instagram stats:
So I became obsessed with Instagram towards the end of 2016. It’s an easy platform to use and I had gotten a few really good business leads, so I wanted to dive into the potentials I was seeing. I challenged myself on February 15th to get 1,000 new followers in one month. And I did. So I wanted to see if I could do that 3 months in a row. And I did. I went from 4,000 followers in February, to over 7,000 today; 2 and a half months later.
So how did I do it? A lot of hard work! I refuse to conform and get spam followers. I want actual, live people. And not just people, but people relevant to my content marketing plans. So I WORK HARD at it. Plain and simple. I have many strategies I’ve used to grow my Instagram following, but I’m going to share 5 simple ones with you today.
Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melissafietsam
#1: Check in
When you go to a store or restaurant, check in to your location. Snap a fun picture and tag the location/business. Locations can be parks, amusement parks, restaurants, museums, trails, stores, shopping centers, states, airports, literally anywhere.
When you get home, or the next day even, use the search bar for the location you tagged. Search under hashtags and “check ins”. Follow all the people who checked in at the same place. They will see your picture, and follow you back; theoretically speaking. You’ll gain new followers. REAL PEOPLE with similar interests.
TIP: Now I only follow women, moms, people who relate to my business.
#2: Ask your customers to follow you:
I went to my customer group and asked everyone to follow me so I could follow them back. Give them the exact link to your Instagram account.
Now…go follow all of their friends who look like they would be your target market. Again, real people that you have someone in common with. RIght? So again, a portion of them will follow you back and you’ll gain new followers.
Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melissafietsam
See how I did that…sneaky, hunh?
TIP: Only follow 20-30 people at a time. Instagram will block you for following too many people at once. When I first started, I got blocked for like 24 hours for following too many at once! I never got blocked after that, sticking to 20-30 people at a time.
#3: Use Cleaner for Instagram:
Here’s what it looks like:
So you’re following all these new people, but some aren’t going to follow you back. And the goal is to gain more followers. So every few days, you open this app, select “non-followers”. It scans your Instagram for anyone who is not following you back. Then you select “delete non-followers” and it deletes them 200 at a time FOR YOU! Like BAM! KACHOW! See ya later alligator!
TIP: you want to keep your FOLLOWS (who you are following) significantly lower than the number of people that are following YOU. Unlike Twitter, where it’s a “follow for follow” platform, Instagram doesn’t like you to be following more people than who you’re being followed BY. For example: I have over 7,000 following me, I’m only following 3,000 of those people myself.
#4: Engage with your audience:
You can’t just do all this work and not engage and build relationships. So make it a point to sit down once a day and scroll through your Instagram feed and ENGAGE.
Someone posts a picture of dinner they made, comment, then maybe even send them a personal message about the recipe. Someone posts a picture of a park, ask them “where was that, it looks awesome!”. Someone posts a picture of their boys, I would say, “oh my goodness. I have 4 boys, I can totally relate. May the force be with you. LOL!”.
Get it? It’s called C-O-M-M-U-N-I-C-A-T-I-O-N. One day you’ll probably read about it in a museum, but for now…you must practice it. LOL!
#5: Use Hashtags:
On Instagram, hashtags is the name of the game! Hashtags connect two people with similar interests. So, I hashtag #coffee and someone else hashtags #coffee…we can find each other! And live happily ever after swimming in rivers of mocha and lattes! But seriously…HASHTAG.
I use this really cool app for every single picture. You type in a word and it generates 30 hashtags to go with it! So I type in coffee and it pulls up #coffeetime, #morning, and so forth. I select the ones I want, hit COPY, and paste them into a comment on my photo on Instagram. BOOM! Like 2 seconds flat. Here’s what the app looks like:
So there you go! That’s just a few simple ways I’ve grown my Instagram following by 3,000 in just a few short months! So if I get 1,000 new followers a month…I’ll take it! Because Instagram is on the fast track to become a social media force to be reckoned with. And I want me and my business to be a part of it! How about you?
Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram!! https://www.instagram.com/melissafietsam
Follow me on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/buymybags
Have an Instagood Day!
Melissa Fietsam
Instagram and Facebook are Amazing Together!
I love all the new integrations happening on Instagram and Facebook!
And one thing that is AMAZING, and everyone needs to know about it, is that you can reply to a comment, post a comment, or trash a comment on your Instagram account, right from your Facebook BUSINESS PAGE!
Check this out!
- Click on your INBOX on your Facebook Business Page
- Then Click on the Instagram icon
- Now you can reply, comment, or trash comments all from your Facebook “back office”.
This is kind of amazing on so many levels. If you’re not utilizing your inbox for your Facebook business page, I’m going to guess you’re missing notifications!
Let me show you WHY I love using the inbox tab on my Business Facebook Page!
Answering people on posts!
For instance, I’m running 6 Facebook parties right now. Instead of clicking on every single party and checking every single post, I go to my inbox and I can see EVERY post and EVERY comment. But the cool thing, I can ANSWER them all right from my inbox. So I’m not chasing posts and scrolling and trying to go through a million pages.
This helps me:
- Save time
- Not MISS notifications
- Work my business like a #GirlBoss
WOOHOO!
Check it out and work your business SMARTER not HARDER!
This is just one more reason you should be hosting your Facebook parties on your Facebook business page. I firmly believe this is where they need to be in order to run your business efficiently.
- You can check all party posts and comments in one place
- Your events are public, so your hostess AND guests can share the posts
- YOU can share the posts via Twitter
- It is ALL searchable content on the web, which gives you more exposure for your business and brand
- You can easily find all your past events and post in them occasionally
I challenge you today to RETHINK how you’re hosting your Facebook parties!
Melissa Fietsam
3 Mistakes You Should Never Make on Social Media
Sharing responsibly on social media is not an option, it’s a MUST. And unless you want someone to eventually take legal action against you, you better know the rules!
You are setting an example for your team, your friends, and everyone around you.
So what are the 3 biggest mistakes people are making on Social Media?
Pinterest:
You cannot take someone else’s graphic and change the link to direct people to YOUR website instead of THEIRS. If someone took the time out of their day (and the money out of their pocket) to create a graphic of their product, YOU have no right to that picture.
Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES are you allowed to take that really awesome graphic and change the link. Let me repeat that…YOU CANNOT CHANGE THE LINK on someone else’s graphic!
Pinterest is a place for ORIGINAL content. Not a place to claim someone else’s original content for your own. Did you know it’s actually illegal?! If I post a picture of my product on Pinterest, it is legally my “intellectual property”. And you are bound by Pinterest to adhere to that rule.
Now, I will say, if you are a direct sales consultant, many companies allow you to take HOME OFFICE graphics and change the links to yours. But this does NOT apply to other people’s graphics you happen to like.
You have 2 options:
OPTION#1:
REPIN IT: Sure, you can repin it. But why would you want to? Why would you want to have a really cool graphic that leads your customers to someone else’s site? My opinion…don’t do it.
OPTION#2:
Create your own: Save the graphic to a secret board and then recreate the same idea with your own product. And BAM! Now YOU have a great graphic to share on Pinterest!
SIDE BAR:
We all have product in our closet. Take that product out once a week and work on one room in your house, or one “theme”. 20 minutes is all it takes to stage some product and take some pictures with your phone. It’s really that easy. And then make sure you watermark so no one WANTS to take your picture to begin with! A watermark is as simple as putting your name and business information as “text” onto the graphic. This can easily be done on Canva or even apps on your phone like Word Swag.
Are you THAT girl?
The one that has a million posts from other people and maybe even changed their links?
Want to know where to start?
Honestly, you need to go delete those boards if you have no original posts in there. Just START OVER!
If you have a bunch of pins from other people and didn’t change the link: you’re leading your customers to other people’s pages and that is NOT what you want to do. You don’t want to lead people away from your website to someone else’s website to order.
If you have a bunch of pins and illegally changed the link to direct them to your site: delete every single one of them. And then recreate your own. And brand your images before you upload them.
Instagram:
Now let’s talk about Instagram. You are not permitted to take someone else’s graphic and: take a snapshot, crop it, and share it. UNLESS you tag them and give them credit for the photo.
You actually have to tag their Instagram account so people are linked back to the original creator of the photo.
People take time on their social media posts. It is NOT okay to take their post and claim it as your own.
You have 2 options:
OPTION #1:
Crop and tag: Snap a picture of the post, crop it, repost, and add “Photo Credit @TheirNameGoesHere”.
You actually have to tag their Instagram account so people are linked back to the original creator of the photo.
OPTION#2:
Use a reposting app: Use an app like “Repost” where you copy the link to their post, paste it into the app, and then it tags them in the photo for you.
Twitter:
And last but not least, let’s talk Twitter. Again, you cannot take someone’s post and make it your own. Twitter makes it very easy to share someone else’s content. And it’s actually a “high five” and pat on the back when you do.
You have 3 options:
OPTION #1:
Retweet: You can retweet their original post and it will show up on your timeline, giving credit to the original author or creator.
OPTION#2:
You can share something and TAG that person’s Twitter handle (@theirtwitteraccount)
OPTION#3:
You can copy a URL directly from the post you want to share and link them back to the original creator’s content. This is mostly for websites and blogs, things of that nature.
Really, the moral of the story is to create your own content. Taking someone else’s content does nothing for your business in the long run. You have to learn how to be creative and get your own posts out there!
UPDATE TO A QUESTION: If the original creator of the photo gives you PERMISSION to share that photo, then yes, you can share it. But you also need to make sure THEY are the original creator of that photo-and not just sharing it from someone else in the first place!
You have to research.
Find someone who inspires you and learn how to do it yourself!
Happy Sharing,
Melissa Fietsam
Instagram Hashtags for each Day of the Week for your Direct Sales Business
Instagram is all about hashtags!
If you’re not using hashtags, people really don’t have a way to FIND what you’re posting.
And it’s great to have a theme each day. Why? Because that’s what everyone else is doing! And the idea of Instagram and Hashtags is to find people who have similar interests.
So I did a little research and found the best hashtags for each DAY. Put them in your “notes” in your phone so you can easily copy/paste and follow some of these daily themes!
The name of the game is to be FOUND. For you and your business. So here you go! Happy hashtagging!
Sunday:
Monday:
Tuesday:
Wednesday:
Thursday:
Friday:
Saturday:
Happy Hashtagging!
Find Your Thirty-One Consultant on Instagram
Come find me Instagram!
I love to show off my my Thirty-One and all the ways it’s blessed me, organized me, and made me smile!
So let’s connect on Instagram!
Find me at:
https://www.instagram.com/melissafietsam/
Melissa Fietsam, Ind. Senior Executive Director at Thirty-One Gifts
#31 #31bag #31bags #thirtyone #thirtyonegifts #Instagram #socialmedia #DirectSales #findaconsultant #jointhirtyone
Free Training TOMORROW on How to Use Instagram for Your Direct Sales Business
Link Posted on Updated on
Check this out! There is a FREE training on how to use your Instagram to promote your Direct Sales business! You can click on the link below to register. I’ve never seen or heard of this lady, but I’m always up for learning something new:)
This is an excerpt from the training page and link below:
“Instagram is growing rapidly, with 26 percent of adults now using the social media network. Yet, only a few brands include Instagram in their social media strategy…and even fewer use it properly.
Discover the best strategies for using Instagram to build your brand from renowned social media consultant Jenn Herman. Join her free Cision webinar on Wednesday, July 29 at 2 p.m. ET.
Jenn will illustrate how Instagram can help you:
- Promote your business with quality content, including photos, captions and videos
- Connect to your audience by showing your unique personality
- Increase your exposure with a targeted hashtag strategy
- Drive traffic using Instagram’s new ad platform
Register now to develop your Instagram strategy!”
Melissa Fietsam, Ind. Senior Executive Director at Thirty-One Gifts
www.buymybags.com
#instagram #directsales #thirtyone #31 #31bag #31bags #instagram101 #training #thirtyonegifts
Instagram. My New Happy Place
Image Posted on
I have been on Instagram for a couple years. However, I haven’t USED it in a couple years either. I posted like once every 4 months. So join me on my new adventure over on Instagram and watch this newbie navigate her way! Link is below…grab the popcorn and Goobers!
My friend Melanie Moore kept barking at me about Instagram. Melanie says, “You’ve gotta get on there”. Then my friend Linda Lollo just kept raving about it. So, I caved. I caved to peer pressure. And now, thank you very much to both of you, I am officially obsessed…like I REALLY needed something new to be obsessed about!! 😉
See, whenever I find something new, I have to research it. I have to KNOW what I’m doing. I have to watch videos, google studies, find all the ins and outs. But the good thing about that, is I jump FIRST, then figure out a way to land. And it serves me well.
So… #Instagram is my new happy place! Oh my goodness, so many cool things to do on there. FUN!
So, you’ll be hearing a lot more from me. I have also fallen in love with the app FLIPAGRAM.
O.M.G.>>>the places you can go!
So find me on Instagram, and if you have some tips for me, send them my way!
https://instagram.com/melissafietsam/
Melissa Fietsam, Ind. Senior Executive Director at Thirty-One Gifts
#instagram #directsales #31 #31bag #31bags #thirtyone #socialmedia
