Instagram is one of the most popular social media networks for sharing and oversharing lifestyle photos. Jealous of the women who always seem to look perfect, or the woman who has it all—money, cars, a house, a relationship, even the dog seems perfect? Or how about the girl who has a million followers on the gram because she speaks broken English, smacks her lips together, or rolls her head after everything she says?
I mean, how is the average creativepreneur who lacks a glamorous lifestyle, doesn’t showcase a ratchet personality, or have a photographer with editing skills supposed to compete?
Then, how do you become the “It Girl” on Instagram after thirty?
Your life is consumed by children, day job(s), bills, running a business, blogging, and whatever else life decides to throw at you on any given day. Your Instagram-cred just went even more down, because while you still may be in the “millennial” bracket, once you pass thirty; are you really still part of the cool – young-hip crowd?!
You try to post cute photos of family, maybe #datenight, a couple of selfies, or even some travel and #staycation photos, but even with a little color correction and filtering your pictures just don’t seem to make the cut of looking flawless. After all, your life really isn’t that popping where people would want to follow you over a celebrity or a fun twenty-year-old who has nothing but time and endless funds, and that vacations or shops every weekend.
So, how can you get people to engage and follow you, for you being you?
First off, creative bugs, just like anything else, don’t believe the hype of what you see in an Instagram photo. They are fake! Not always in the sense of that person is completely false advertising, but so much goes into creating the “perfect Instagram” photo that nowadays you really can’t believe what you see. A celebrity or even social media maven with a large following spends hours, even days, creating a photo and content concept for the week or month. Chances are their lives aren’t as lavish as they appear or if they are then they’re adding some extra spice to make it seem more than it really is. No one looks as perfect as they do on Instagram. Even social media queen Kylie Jenner shows her Instagram vs. Real Life photos. Most people didn’t even know she had freckles.
India Love, another social media favorite, shows her two sides, and it goes on and on.
Oh, what to do without a personal trainer, professional photographer, glam squad, and a Black American Express?!
First thing—STOP!
Stop thinking you are doing something wrong. You are exactly where you should be. Your path is yours to walk at your own pace. So many of us creativepreneurs, are getting major anxiety from the life of Instagram, even the accounts that are for business sharing, are getting caught up in the Instagram lifestyle. “My pictures aren’t perfect, why don’t I look like that, why am I not as successful as her, what am I doing wrong.” Don’t be this person.
Here are a few tips to surviving the lifestyle of Instagram, even after thirty,
- Share personal life moments that other people can relate to. Don’t be an oversharer, but it’s okay and cute to share funny and memorable moments. Add a cute filter or background to spruce it up. Post one per week.
- #Selfies will never get old. People love to see who’s behind the lens. One day when you are looking slayed to the gods take a good amount of #selfies. Change your lipstick and tops and you should walk away with a good week or two of content. Share one per week during your peak hours.
- Invest in yourself and hire that glam squad and photographer for the day. Create a photo shoot for yourself where you can rock out and strut your stuff. You will be able to recycle these images throughout the year.
- Share an inspirational message. Post once a week or every other week.
Find your niche and stick with it! If your blog or business centers on cooking then that is what you should be sharing. Put your time, energy, and funds that you do have into developing awesome visuals and content for this. While you can post other things, your primary posting schedule should consist of things in your niche.
Check out Meiko and the Dish for great Instagramspiration on how to balance it all and still bring in the followers.
Finally, Instagram is a completely made-up world, so why not play the game right along with everyone else? Find your niche and fake it until you make it. If your blog business is fashion, who would know the difference if you went to the mall and took #shoefies with ten pairs of shoes for content purposes? I won’t tell if you won’t ;).