I'm sharing my story about how I got 225k followers on Instagram in 6 months and what I believe are the success factors when growing a social media account.

The story

Kindness

It's called social media for a reason, right? It's 50% social and 50% media! Interacting in a social manner plays a huge part when you want to become successful on social media. That's where the 'kindness' I mentioned earlier comes in!

TIP: Don't ever forget that you are interacting with real human beings

Kindness has played a vital role in my Instagram growth, without it people wouldn't have started following me or would stop following me. It might sound like such a simple thing ("DUUHHHH of course you need to be kind!"), but it surely isn't always as simple!

Kindness - When you have a small account

I knew when I started out with Instagram, I had to make friends. Not just any friends, but like minded people. I started using the search option to find other (digital) artists or people that were into handlettering. I focussed on accounts that were about the same size as mine, knowing that large accounts probably wouldn't have the time or interest to 'hook up' with me.

TIP: Don't try to make friends by begging others to follow you

I found some Instagrammers that I was interested in and started commenting on their work, showing genuine interest and enthusiasm. This is where some long lasting Instagram friendships started and some of my friends 'grew up' with me.

There are definately people like you out there! They wanna get in touch, are just as interested in you as you are in them and they want to help you out and support you! All you need to do is invest time and effort and show genuine kindness.

Kindness - When you have a big account

Things changed once my account 'exploded', I gained a massive amount of followers and almost drowned in the amount of messages I got. There was no time anymore to reach out to 'new friends', replying to messages became a day job.

Kindness still plays a HUGE part though, maybe even more than ever. All of a sudden I have become a role model and influencer, something I'm still trying to get used to. I get a lot of kind messages of kids and adults telling me how I inspired them to draw again. It's important to show these followers that I care, that I listen to them. It doesn't matter how 'big' you get, it's important to never forget about interacting with your loyal followers.

TIP: Always try to stay kind, no matter what

Once you have a big account, there's no avoiding negative comments and trolls. Those are from the people that don't understand how to grow an account or make friends 😋
When dealing with negativity, I have two important tips:

Be as kind as you can to the haters
Be even more kind to yourself

In other words: Try to be kind to haters if you can, don't degrade yourself to their level. Another option is to just block them of course. The most important thing is to be kind to yourself, don't let the haters get you down and try to focus on your social media friends and loyal followers.

Don't confuse hating with constructive criticism though! If someone is giving you constructive criticism, be thankful! They took the effort to help you out and tell you how to improve.

TIP: Be thankful for constructive criticism

These tips of course also apply to Steemit or any other social media platform, or heck... even every day REAL life!
Spread some love everyone!

More posts about my Instagram success factors will follow soon

STAY TUNED!

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How I Got 225K INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS - Part 2 -- Kindness