Step by Step: How I made my first $10,000 on Instagram
Making money on Instagram can be easy if you know the steps to follow.
So in this post I am going to be as straight to the point and direct as possible so you know what to do and apply it in your own Business. You do not have to copy my own business model. That is completely unique to me and how you will monetize your Instagram will depend on your own unique offers, passions, gifts and services.
So as you go along in this post, keep in mind what it is you do and how you intend to provide Value. Of course you already know that making money is a by-product of giving value. So to answer the question of how I made my first $10,000 on Instagram, I will tell you quickly so you can run along –
- Business Consults and 1:1 Strategy: This isn’t one I do a lot of because I honestly prefer to send people to my online courses and Ebooks but it is one of the offers that brings in good income. My Strategy sessions are $200 per Hour at the time of this writing and that is most likely to change in the coming months
- Ebooks: I currently have only 1 Ebook in my portfolio but it is one of my most requested products to date. It is the Ultimate Guide Instagram Hashtags -HACKING HASHTAGS and with a Price point of $29, has sold over 200 downloads so far
- Online Video Courses: I have several mini videos courses and masterclasses that I have created and promoted to my audience based on what people were needing help with. I have also used this method to really understand what my audience is seeking and how to focus my offers. Right now my online courses are doing very well and it is where the bulk of my income comes from.
Now, if you are interested in the actual steps of things that helped me make that money so you can do it for yourself, then keep on reading.
Whatever value you provide, whether that is directly with your products or services or indirectly by representing other brands, it will always start with Content.
Step 1: Create Content that Converts
When you Start, Focus on the Value you Give, not just on trying to Grow your page. Growing on Instagram is a by-product of value in Content, and making money on Instagram involves knowing how to leverage the traffic you get to sell your offers.
The first thing to think about is: “What kind of content can I create online that will make people aware of my services or products and who am I creating content for?”
This is where a lot of people get it wrong. You cannot monetize your Instagram without the right content to attract the right people. For instance, the content you will need for your type of business if you are a Hair vendor will be different from the content I will need as an Online educator and coach.
When I began focusing on my Instagram in January 2020 at only 2000 followers, that’s exactly what I started with:
What do I have to give that is Valuable and what kind of Content do I need to create to attract the people who will need my services?
What I had to give was my knowledge about Content Creation. This was what I started with. I knew that I wanted to help creators make better content and grow on Instagram because I had done it with other pages, and very early on, I knew that I wanted to Monetize with educational materials (Course and Ebooks)
So I began to make content about content creation tips and Instagram growth ideas.
I also used Hashtags to target the right audience and I had my own specialized engagement strategy.
These 3 things must go hand in hand because these are the elements of a growing Instagram page.
Your content, hashtags and engagement strategies. If you do not know how to use Hashtags yet, you are missing out on a big piece of the Instagram puzzle. Growth happens because of Content and Engagement but Hashtags on Instagram will ensure you are found by the right people who need your products and services.
2. Understand your Audience and What they Need
If you do not get clear on your Ideal audience, you will attract just anybody to follow you on Instagram. A lot of people want specific demographic of an audience, but their messaging attracts just everybody and it becomes difficult to monetize. Which is why you may have 10,000 followers and not one person is interested in what you offer.
So understanding your audience is key. When you know who your content is for, you can then target them with Hashtags and a streamlined, specific engagement strategy.
The more I created content for my audience, the better I understood what they were needing help with. When I started I was teaching about Video creation and just general tips. I was also very eager to monetize because I already knew I was going to teach courses, so I jumped in straight and Created an Online course teaching How to Shoot and Edit Videos with a Mobile Phone.
Why?
I found a need!
A lot of people were talking to me in the DMs and asking for help with Video creation. This is something that I am very knowledgeable about and I have made a lot of great Youtube videos just on my Mobile phone over the years. So I figure, ‘Heck! I can teach this as a course and I can earn money for what I know’.
So I created my first course on Mobile video creation and editing to help creators use just their mobile phones make video content. This is how you make money. By filling a need, providing the solution to a problem. This was my first sale on Instagram and it earned me my first $500. I was excited!
3. Niche down deeper and become the go-to Expert for a Specific thing
Now as I continued to create content on this page, I was learning so much about how Growth on Instagram actually worked and I was growing my account so fast by applying my own strategies. I fell in love with hashtags and how they worked, so I spent a great deal of my time trying to understand hashtags.
Soon, I was creating content about Hashtags because I knew so much about them. What happened next is still my biggest lesson to date. My DMs began to fill up with requests for help with hashtags. I didn’t even realize I had done this, but I had created so much content about Hashtags that I had now become the go-to person for tags.
Not only that, people began to recommend me in comments of other pages as the person to talk to for Hashtag related issues. This single thing had suddenly placed me as a needed expert.
What did I do?
I made one single digital product to answer everybody’s questions about Hashtags.
I created my first Ebook. It became a simpler way to monetize my Instagram and I have received so many great results for clients and my students who have gone through the guide. My Ebook The Ultimate Guide to Hashtags has since earned me over $2000 and I have not used any ads to promote it.
SEE ALSO: How to Use Hashtags on Instagram to Target your Ideal Clients and Audience and grow faster
When you start creating even more specifically in your Niche and you can own something, you make people tag you as the person with the solution for that problem. This is important because when you do decide to create a Product or offer a service, people already trust you for that and you have social proof and testimonials to show for it.
I do not have to go crazy to promote my Ebook. People know that I understand how Hashtags work and they are ready to pay me to help them.
4. Create Products and Offer Solutions or Services for the problems your Audience has
Against my own rules of having very few products and specific services, I have created several digital products over the course of the last 5 Months to test out what my audience is really interested in.
I personally love creating and selling digital products so honestly, if creating different digital products is not your jam, you can totally offer one product over a long period of time. For me, I am very knowledgeable in a vast number of things and I love to teach so it is a no brainer for me to keep on having classes and products for my audience to learn from me.
When I realized my audience needed help with growing on Instagram, I created the 1000 in 30 Days Mini course bundle. This has become by far my most rapidly selling product and I have enrolled over 100 students since it opened a month ago.
CLICK HERE to watch a Free Preview Masterclass from the bundle.
When I began to have people request for help with Converting their Followers into Buyers, I took that feedback and created a course bundle with several classes teaching how to grow and monetize on Instagram. This bundle of classes has been especially helpful for my followers who are also interested in creating digital products, ebooks and courses and monetizing their Instagram.
Basically, you can do whatever you want once you really understand your audience.
But to understand your audience you first have to create several Free Content so they can begin to talk to you and tell you what they need help with.
Once you figure that out, the next step will be to create a digital product that your audience can pay for. The easiest digital product to create today is an Ebook and you only need an idea worth paying for to get started. To learn How to earn Money selling Ebooks, Click Here to take the $2500 in 30 Days Ebook strategy class
5. Promote your Product and Offers Shamelessly
One of the major issues I have seen with people and why I think it may be difficult for you to make money with your Instagram right now, is you are afraid to sell. You think selling is dirty. You’d rather keep on creating content for Free and not talking about what people can pay you for because you prefer to live in obscurity. Meanwhile, deep down inside you are seething with hate and going crazy over the fact that you are spending time on Instagram but not making any money.
I learned quickly that to earn Money on Instagram or anywhere at all, I needed to learn how to sell. To sell, I needed to talk about my offers and my products.
Think about it this way. Whatever you are giving or doing for people is helping them. Is it not? You are providing value, are you not? So what you are doing inevitably is being of service. Selling something that helps people is a Service. The moment I began to think this way, everything changed.
I started to let people know in my posts, captions, and stories that I had the solution they needed. Promoting your offers and products must become a part of your strategy else you are not going to earn with your Page.
6. Learn How to Sell in the DMs
I had to learn really quickly that Instagram did not care about me as a creator.
Instagram cares about Instagram. As soon as this sinks in for you, you realize that you as a creator or user of Instagram must create your own Strategy for how you will convert followers into buyers.
And where does this conversion happen? IN THE DMs.
Think about it, you get to have only 1 Link in your Instagram bio.
That Link itself has to be well optimized so you can get people hitting the link. If you want to see more about this and how to optimize your link in bio, drop a comment below so I know and will write on that in another post.
Now, because Instagram itself has been set up in a way to train people not to leave Instagram, it so happens that people don’t like to click the link in bio. This means if you want to sell on Instagram, you have to be pushing your leads and prospects into your DMs and move them up from there.
As soon as I learned How to sell in the DMs, my sales on Instagram took off! I went from making one sale here and there, to getting hundreds of people in my DMs and converting them to buyers.
You can do this too if you are serious about earning money on Instagram and I have created a simple strategy that you can follow step by step.
So far, my earnings have been thanks to Instagram DMs and Email Marketing. Now, the big guy! Let’s talk about Email Marketing.
7. Use Email Marketing to Convert Followers into Buyers
I cannot tell you enough how important Email Marketing is for your business. If it has been scary for you start with Email, don’t sweat it. I have a Free Masterclass for you that will help you get your footing right with email. You can watch it here.
You really do not expect your followers to buy straight from you on sight. Some of them do. But it is definitely a very unpredictable and unlikely way to scale your business if you are going to have something that sustains you.
You want to have a system that lets you take your followers into a nurture sequence where you can then slowly or quickly convert them into leads and buyers. I love to do this in the DMs and with Email marketing.
When you watch this Email Marketing masterclass you will have a much broader sense of how to do this for your own business. Using Email and my DMs are the two most effective ways I have implemented to make more sales on Instagram. If you are ready to start using Email,
CLICK HERE to learn more in the Email Marketing training.
Serious about making money with your Instagram Page?
You can get started right now! Stop waiting. All you need is 1000 True fans who care about your content and knowing how to convert your followers into buyers.
Click here to learn how to add 1000 New and Engaged followers to your Instagram.
