Have ever felt a powerful surge to roll up your sleeves, switch-on your computer and start creating an Online brand immediately after watching Gary Vaynerchuk? If you have, then you are not alone. I had my systems pumped-up after reading his book Crushing It. I wanted to go create a powerful online presence for myself as he did. The urge was irresistible, but the SocialMedia-Detox restrictions that I levied on myself didn't allow me to spend those extra dedicated hours to implement the learnings I had gained from reading GaryVee. It all came back again a couple of weeks ago, but this time I decided to go ahead. I wanted to create an online brand from scratch, learn what it takes to sell, learn online tools and understand the audience.
A little bit of History never hurts!
Giving in to the urge, Two weeks back, I started the “DailyTech Bulletin”. An Instagram handle which feeds the followers with the latest technological updates as daily doses. The idea was to serve the followers with interesting tech updates, while at the same time not to glute them with superfluous content, It could annoy them(I put myself on their shoes before creating the content). I had two main intentions when I wanted to create this handle.
First, I want to learn how to create an online brand from scratch. I still have a passive Facebook page with more than 10K followers, but I created it when I was just an overenthusiastic kid. I was heavily driven by emotions and didn't use my rational mind to learn anything from that stunt. In short, I made something, but I don't know how I made it. I want to do things all over again from scratch.
Second, I want to help people irrespective of their backgrounds to stay abreast of current technological developments. Also, I had a feeling that it’s my responsibility because I was unintentionally repelling a lot of people away from tech, until a few years back. The general public often tagged me as an incomprehensible geek who has the ability to speak in technical jargon. They somehow felt Tech is a complicated world, and it's better to leave it alone. I still feel guilty about it. A few years back, I had a transition phase. The phase brought several changes, and my love for simplicity and minimalism is one of them (I have written about my transition phase in the medium article - Somethings have Changed.). After a few months of conscious efforts, I have now trained myself to speak in simple words, explain complex ideas with simple analogies and remove unnecessary details. This online brand “DailyTech Bulletin” could be a combination of my new found love for simplicity and my passion for technology.
I’m writing this post to celebrate my first 100 followers on Instagram. It took two weeks to reach the follower's count. Behind-the-screen details of any initiative are always the most interesting and yet very less publicized parts. Starting now, I would like to share behind the screen details, the learnings, puzzling questions, tips and tricks, growth hacks and other details that could provide value to others while at the same time serve as a journal in our progress.
Shut-up and Start moving things:
Motivation✅
Come up with a name for the page ✅
Create a New Instagram handle ✅
Make a Logo for Profile Picture ✅
Create the first interesting post?😵
Yes! There it was! I had hit the “Creator’s Block”. Not that I couldn’t come up with any interesting content, but it was difficult answering the question — “Which content would make a better first post?”. Because we never get a second chance to make a First Impression.
I scrapped about five contents which I spent hours creating, they were good but they were commonplace. For example, One content I created listed all the CEO of top technology companies and the company's current total market value. Trying to evaluate and quality check the post myself, I found these are very well established facts that are common to almost anyone even with basic awareness about tech. What good in providing content that is already well-known by the consumer? So, without further adieu, I scrapped the post.
Something curious, something no one thought would exist — This would make an awesome first post, and I started looking for inspiration for this kind. The WallStreetJournal’s article on Colleges tracking prospective Student’s data popped up in news filter, it fit the bill perfectly well. All set, got the content ready. Tested half a dozen tools to create Instagram posts, and finally decided on one and started making a post. And finally, when everything was ready, It was nearly midnight(Achievers either wake up at 5 AM or go to sleep at 5 AM 😜). I hit the magic button, and the post was live 😍! I can hear the voice in your head go “He published a post on Instagram? Why is he boasting about it?”. Isn't the first words of a child special to the parents?
A Dummy’s attempt to Learn Instagram
I believed I knew Instagram and other social media platforms, and all it took was to create one handle to prove me wrong. I just discovered I had a lot to learn, and creating something from scratch can provide a steep learning curve. Thanks to my friends — Pranaesh, Niviya, Prashaanth, Aamirah! I have seen you grow on Instagram for years now, and I just tried mimicking the techniques you used in your handles 😀! I’m the Ekalavya here! But with multiple Drona’s(In case if you are unaware of Ekalavya, he is a fictional character. Check Wikipedia to know more — Ekalavya).
Somethings I have learned so far from my two-week journey on Instagram:
- Build Curiosity, Increase Traffic
- Using appropriate Hashtags is a skill
- Content is the key, choose a niche and be consistent
- Instagram Stories are an effective audience engagement tool
- Business/Non-Individual pages go private to increase followers count. Many users do not follow handles when they are public.
- Understanding the audience is important to better serve them. It maintains a stable followers count
- There is still a place for new pages even though there its already crowded. Finding a Niche is important.
- There are plenty of bots on Instagram.
- I’m learning how to sell my brand/product
The learning I’m going through is progressive, I’m exploring more and more every day. I’m also trying to figure out several things in social media which I find are confusing and not lucid(If you could help me out, do comment! I would love to learn from you!). I have put together a list of such confusing elements:
- How hashtags work.
I tried using the same set of Hashtag in two different posts. One resulted in more views, while the other was contrasting to the previous one. - How to get featured in Explore
- How does promotion’s work
- How to use the statistics to improve audience engagement and interaction
- Make sense of statistics for Instagram Stories(I’m confused about what Next Story and Exited stats in Navigation tab)
- How to convert leads to followers, many view the content, Like them but do not follow 😤
I don’t see this list stop growing anytime soon.. I will try to update whenever I find the answers to these bugging questions.
Side Effects and Other notes:
The book “ The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg mentions Habit Loop and How to leverage the Habit Loop to create a new Habit or modify an existing Habit. So, I created a trigger and cue for myself to post daily on the Handle. The reward is the interaction and engagement from the audience. The technique seems to work, posting content regularly is becoming my habit now!
One habit could change the entire habit patterns of an individual. To post new content, I started reading more about tech content regularly. My awareness regarding the latest global technological developments are improving every day, I’m less dumb today than I was yesterday. Being aware of developments is also helping me in the work directly and indirectly. I have a hobby to do after work, which is rejuvenating. It also gives me ideas and inspirations in my work to take alternate ways to approach a problem. Win-Win!
I also created a Whatsapp based mailing list to regularly post content about recent tech happenings and help me keep connected with the audience directly. Though this system is ineffective, I’m experimenting with it. One important pro in this system is, It’s easier to get feedback through Whatsapp.
As I learn more and more about how to sell, I can understand what techniques are being employed on us by all other marketers. I’m learning to view from a different perspective — The Marketer’s Perspective. I hope to learn more and see where this takes me!
This is the link to my Instagram page, in case if you are looking for it! 😀 Check the content, If you like it, hit the follow button!
Check out my other Social Presence:
