How To Get First 1,000 Followers (LinkedIn & Instagram) in an Honest and Credible way

How many followers do one have on a particular social networking site is of the hardest and prestigious things to happen. And it even gets harder if the social sites are LinkedIn and Instagram. While the later is a visual networking site, the other one is more of a group of professional networks. But before giving you the tips on how o get first 1,000 followers on these two particular platforms, let me first give you some general tips that can used anywhere, regardless of which platform you Choose, to increase your number of followers:

Some Common Strategies

There are some common strategies that can be used regardless of which social platform you chose. Whether it is Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, LinkedIn or Instagram, these strategies can be put to any of the platforms in general.

  • Fill out your profile completely
  • Share a link to your profile via your other networks and via email
  • Place follow links and widgets on your blog or website
  • Add your new social profile to your email signature

Getting First 1,000 Followers On LinkedIn

Before knowing the strategies for getting 1,000 followers on LinkedIn, you have to decide on “What” and “Which” segment of seeking followers shall be there for your personal profile or for your company’s page? Because the ways are unique for each of them, to attain that first 1,000 follower’s mark. The strategies below touches on each:

Move 1: Filling Out Your Profile Completely

It is very important to fully complete your profile on LinkedIn. The value that LinkedIn gives to your profile can be seen from the fact that it has a separate icon placed on its right side which shows the percentage of your profile completed. This Profile Strength icon shows that how thoroughly you have filled in all your details.

The more and more fields you add to your profile, the more likely it is that someone may find you. You can also take advantage of LinkedIn’s new cover photos and other rich media options for your profile. For instance, you could add a relevant industry image as your cover photo and place portfolio images and links into your profile. 

The same strategy for business profiles as well. The options are limited for business profiles, but still you can take advantage of adding cover photo and profile pictures, URL, about information, and the specialties with which you’re involved.

Move 2: Sharing A Link To Your Profile Via Other Networks And Via Email

Next major step is to publish an update on your Twitter or Facebook account stating a link to your LinkedIn page. Also share your new page with your email list.

Move 3: Placing A LinkedIn Button On Your Website

LinkedIn offers three options for creating a Follow button to place on your website.

Move 4: Inviting Your Co-Workers To Join LinkedIn And Fill Out Their Profile

This step is an easy step for the company pages on LinkedIn. You have to invite your co-workers to join you on your LinkedIn profile. When employees add you as their current employer on LinkedIn, your logo appears on their profile and it links directly to your LinkedIn company page.

 Move 5: sending an original connection request, and accepting requests from everyone

Chris Lee shared an interesting strategy about how he handles the giving and receiving of LinkedIn requests.

Be indiscriminate about accepting connection requests. I accept all requests – they could potentially endorse you for multiple skills, share your profile to their network, and expand your reach. You should aim to have 500+ connections on your profile.

When sending out connection requests, try to modify the default message to something more personalized to increase the chances of your request being accepted. You can include your LinkedIn profile URL in your signature, “Connect with me.”

Getting first 1,000 followers on Instagram

Move 1: filling your Instagram profile completely

Checking out your profile is the first thing which an Instagram user might do, to add your name in his following list. To that end, be sure you have completed your profile with a profile picture, a description, and a link to your website.

Instagram’s header section is composed of seven of your most popular images. Be sure that before promoting your profile, you have these 7 photos ready with you. Also keep in mind that these photos should depict the best of you, you can opt for images from your lifestyle and personal life, which tend to do best.

Move 2: connecting your Instagram and Facebook account

You can beat a drum and tell to your friends that you are now on Instagram, by connecting your Facebook account to your Instagram account. This will help your friends in finding you and they can now follow you.

Move 3: coming up with a commenting strategy

This is now become almost a universal truth that a comment figures to get noticed (and appreciated) much more than a like. So you have to make up some strategy on this, so that you could get more and more comments on your images.

  • Comment from a computer, using a tool like Icon square. This way you can leave comments quicker and easier than typing out on a mobile device.
  • Search for a relevant hashtag.
  • Comment on photos posted within the last day or two.
  • Comment on photos with fewer than five other comments (to make sure your comment is seen and appreciated).

Move 4: liking a lot of posts

Neil Patel tried out several Instagram strategies to gain more followers and his number one takeaway was this:

If you want to grow your account by a few hundred followers a day, the best way to accomplish it is to randomly like thousands of images a day.

Move 5: discovering the best hashtags

Find out the present trends in hashtags, especially those used by the influencers in your industry. For a more scientific view, check into the webstagram Top 100 and see the overall trends and top picks for hashtags on Instagram.

Move 6: placing a hashtagged feed of Instagram posts on your website or blog

By placing a hashtagged feed of Instagram posts on your website or blog, there is a high probability that the visitors to your site will notice your Instagram account and send follows.

There are some helpful sites—Webstagram and Intensive, for instance—that assist with getting the feed on your site. WordPress users have a lot of plugin options as well.

In addition, Instagram also offers five different types/sizes of badges that you can place on your website.

Move 7: tagging people

Tagging the accounts that are most relevant to you could lead to the accounts themselves follow you back or with these it may happen that these users pay the love forward by mentioning you on one of their photos.

 Move 8: Sharing a link to your Instagram profile on other social channels and email

Same as on other social networks, here also you have to share your other networks such as Facebook or Twitter’s link as well as your email’s link on your Instagram profile.

Move 9: using geo-tagging on your pictures and on your store

Instagram revealed a photo maps feature which lets users see the pictures that were taken from a certain location. If you enable geo-tagging on your pictures, you can be part of this map. Same goes for a brick-and-mortar store you own. Connect your Instagram via Foursquare to turn on this feature.

References– Information available on Secondary Information available on Public forums  and iMET Research division (www.imetglobal.com) and:: https://blog.bufferapp.com/first-1000-followers-twitter-facebook-social-media

Happy Learning and Growing. ?

You can reach me on deepak@imetglobal.com