Instagram: The Ultimate Side Hustle
We now live in the digital age. everything you need is only a couple taps away on your smartphone.
You can order food to be delivered by your foot door…
You can buy your latest gadget on Amazon…
You can contact anyone, anywhere, anytime…
You can order a taxi…
You can book a hotel room…
You can book a flight…
We live at an incredible time. Technology is changing our lifestyle. Whether it is for good or bad, it is up to you.
I decided to use technology to share my passion for travel and photography using Instagram back in 2015. I was posting photos every single day and chatting with travelers and photographers from the other side of the world from the comfort of my couch.
A couple years later, I found a way to monetise my account and travel blog through affiliate marketing and now the rest is history.
I traveled to 40 countries across 5 continents. I became a content creator and personal brand strategist helping entrepreneurs and small and medium businesses activate their brands online and turn their followers into paying clients. I created online courses, I coach and I am earning a living to do something I enjoy with Social Media.
Instagram is a powerful platform anyone can use to design their ideal life. And if you are scrolling endlessly on your phone looking at your favourite accounts sharing their incredible life, let me tell you that you are no different than them.
The only thing separating you from them is that they made the decision to use this platform, not for entertainment but for business.
I was in your shoes only a couple of years ago and today Instagram is one of my favourite platforms to run my business and connect with people I admire.
So, if you are reading this today, chances are that you too would like to know how to start your side hustle using Instagram.
Let me tell you how.👇
Start now
Instagram is one of the fastest growing platforms and it is not going anywhere for at least the next 5 years. Big brands are starting to shift their budgets to digital and are also seeing great results. So, before the platform becomes saturated, now is your time to start.
You can start an Instagram page about anything you are passionate about (sport, fashion, business, tech, etc...) and enjoy sharing.
You got 2 options: Create or Curate.
Either take photos/create content yourself or find content that you like and share it on your account. Just add your 2 cents in the captions and share it online.
It is FREE!
Now, when posting, think about your ideal fan. What is their interest, what would they like to read about? Your post can fall within those 4 categories:
Educational
Motivational
Inspirational
Entertaining
Pick what you feel the most comfortable with and start posting now!
Put in the work
Work on it for 2 hours a day when you come home from school or work. Create content, grow, network, learn as much as you can about the platform. Set some time to learn the basics of Instagram and how to promote your account.
Post consistently, engage with other pages you like and admire. Spread positive vibe and share a lot of value with your followers to grow your account by just sharing your passion.
Once you grew your Instagram account and reached a certain amount of followers, you will notice that more brands will start reaching out to you to collaborate (meaning receiving freebies in the beginning, money later) and ask you to publish a post about their products on your page.
After a while, you will have some experience working with brands, you will be able to reach out to the one you like and get paid to collaborate with them! This is what I teach how to do in my online course Instapreneur Academy.
Monetise
Once you start to gain more visibility on the platform, now it is time to think about ways to monetise your Instagram account. You have several options, but the most popular are:
Affiliate marketing - You promote a product on behalf of a company and receive a kickback for every sale you make. i.e. Amazon affiliate program
Sponsored posts - You work directly with a brand to help them promote one of their products or services. i.e. Travel influencers travel for free and get paid by collaborating with hotels just by posting photos and videos of their stay on Instagram.
Selling digital/physical products - if you pick a specific niche, it is very common to sell products related to that niche. You can either create the product yourself or be the intermediary by using drop shipping methods
Live the dream
In less than a few years you can make a living from your Instagram account and doing something you love.
How cool is that?
And the great thing is that sharing won't be a chore as it will be part of you, your lifestyle, what you value and enjoy doing on a daily basis. #winning
My goal when I started was to take photos, travel the world and share my adventures, with first, my friends and family, and second, with the community of fans following my travels.
I have been able to travel to places I never imagined I'd ever set foot in my life, like Japan, Indonesia, Colombia, Iceland to cite a few.
Today, travel is part of my lifestyle and my family lifestyle. Even though, I recently traded my backpack for baby bottles, travel is part of me.
In only a year my daughter already traveled to 3 countries and took the plane at least 10 times! That is something that would have been inconceivable 20 years ago!
I am also earning a living from the skills I acquired over the past years working on the platform. I have become an expert using Instagram for business and this is a skill every business having a digital presence nowadays needs. Up to you to find the path that matches with your lifestyle and your skills.
If you spend one hour per day using Instagram, there is literally no excuse to not find a little bit of time every day to upload a post and network with others. This is one of the best ways today to create a new stream of passive income.
Do not miss out on this opportunity!
If you would like to learn how to use Instagram and set your Instagram account for success, make sure to download a free copy of my ebook 16 Ways To Grow Your Instagram Account For Success where I share my best tips to help you grow your account.
If you enjoyed reading this article, make sure to like it, it actually makes a difference. And if you know anyone that is still on the fence about starting their business using Instagram, do not hesitate to share this article with them