Can Instagram Provide a Sustainable Income Stream?

Millions of users access Instagram on a daily basis. While many simply upload pictures to be shared with friends and family, a growing portion are looking towards this social media platform in the hopes of generating a substantial source of side income. Is this notion even possible? Although such concept is rather new when compared to more traditional techniques, the fact of the matter is that Instagram could open up a wealth of opportunities if you know how and where to begin. Let’s take a look at some important principles as well as why the number of followers represents the ultimate key to your success.

Some Top Money-Making Strategies Specific to Instagram

One of the reasons why Instagram has proven to be so very popular revolves around its decidedly visual nature. A growing number of users are access such sites with mobile devices while out and about. It therefore stands to reason that images alongside small captions of text will generate more hits when compared to verbose posts.

Many industry professionals therefore believe that success on Instagram does not rely solely upon the images themselves. It also requires the use of the correct keywords in the form of hashtags. Hashtags can be thought of as digital “lightning rods” when it comes to attracting visitors. As the image results will be filtered based upon public searches, it pays to research the most trending hashtags associated with a specific topic that is related to the image in question. Assuming that this challenge has been addressed, there are a handful of ways to earn an extra income:

• Performing affiliate marketing services for a third-party product supplier.
• Marketing and promoting your own material.
• Creating sponsored posts for another company or individual.

It also should be mentioned that these represent non-exclusive streams of revenue. In other words, they can be used in conjunction with one another to enjoy an even larger profit margin over time.

Once again, publicity is key; your return on investment will primarily depend upon how many visitors interact with your page. This is why it is important to market your Instagram account and posts across multiple platforms. Standalone blogs and social media news feeds (such as those associated with Facebook) are great places to start. Naturally, links can be posted within your own website.

Obtaining a Quality Online Audience

If you’re curious to learn more about how to get followers on Instagram, you’ll be happy to learn that this process is actually less complicated than it may initially appear to be. It is pivotal to stress the concept of quality over quantity. It is much better to obtain a few thousand followers who engage with your posts on a regular basis as opposed to ten thousand who rarely visit the page.

The first principle has been leveraged within social media circles for years. If you are rather new to this sector, it is a good idea to join Instagram groups which are associated with the products or services that you wish to offer. Your posts will thereafter be displayed within the news feeds of these groups; a great way to attract like-minded followers over time.

It is also a good idea to consider re-posting the content already submitted by others. Why? First of all, Instagram is quite strict in regards to the content that can be shared. Posting the material of others is also an excellent way to encourage them to share your content. This can be thought of as a “you scratch my back, I scratch yours” mentality.

Still, it can be difficult to tap into a massive audience without more online exposure. Many experts feel that having your content featured in larger social media portals such as Buzzfeed is a potent strategy to leverage. Although Buzzfeed is considered somewhat of a niche market, the fact is that its presence has grown exponentially over the years.

We mentioned earlier the importance of hashtags within your Instagram posts. In this case, we are not only referring to search engine optimization; never forget that Google looks favorably upon fresh content that employs the correct keywords. Always be sure to perform a substantial amount of research if you hope to find the most trending and even viral media topics.

Making money on Instagram is a viable solution if you appreciate the underlying mechanics. Although it might require a bit of time, the rewards are certainly worth the effort.

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