How To: Create An Instagram Fan Page {Part 3}

Welcome back to part 3 of my guide to creating an Instagram fan page. If you haven't seen the last two parts,

So in my last 2 posts, I taught you guys the basic Instagram acronyms and I gave you 3 tips for setting up what you will need. In this part, I will be helping you further as well as answering the questions I received on part 2.

1) Shoutouts 

I started @obsessedwithvamps from the ground up. Meaning at one point in my Instagram journey, I legit had 0 followers. It's hard to gain followers when you have like 10 followers because it's hard to find people who want to do shout outs with you. It's actually a cycle. The more followers you have, the more people with more followers want to do shout outs with you and you gain faster. (Did I just make sense? I don't even know omg)

Anyway, the key to overcoming this (and its something you should carry with you throughout your Instagram journey) is simply to do shout outs with people who have about the same number of followers that you do. If you have 10 followers, don't ask people with 1k and above to do shout outs with you. It's not fair to them and also the chances that you will get rejected is very high.

As you gain more followers, like if you have 6k, its okay to ask a person with 8 or 9k for shout outs. That's because its still considered a lot. 

(This was a question posted to me on part 2)

2) Editing Apps

I was asked in my last post to recommend good iPhone editing apps. I have always edited my photos on my phone and I am only just starting to learn how to use Photoshop CS6 to edit. So far I've only been able to teach myself how to make GIFs (lol)

I like to teach myself how to do things. I taught myself how to make GIFs on Photoshop. I taught myself how to use Final Cut Pro in a day (the basics at least). I taught myself how to edit on the iPhone and I'm working towards learning to edit on Photoshop CS6. So I really really can't stand it when people can't be bothered to learn things themselves. 

I absolutely hate it when people comment on my edits asking what apps I used to make it and what filters I used and what fonts I used. It annoys me so much. I always tell people in fact, that I don't give these things out. I'm a fan page. I'm not a 'How To Edit Page'.

The reason why accounts don't give out apps, filters and fonts is simply because that is their unique style. Would an magician give away his trick? No. Why? Because that's what makes them unique and special. That is exactly the same for an editor.

There are a lot of editing apps out there in the app store. Millions in fact. I found the apps that I currently use mostly by trial and error. I like to download a whole lot of apps at one go and then go through them one by one, testing them and seeing if they are any good. Then I will delete the ones that aren't good or aren't what I want and keep the rest to use for my edits.

Bottom line: To find good editing apps and styles, trial and error plus a passion to learn is critical. 

3) Knowing Your Followers

What does it mean to know your followers? In fact, how do you know your followers? With 6300 followers, you can't expect me to know every single one of my followers. That's crazy. So what I mean with this point is to observe your follower trends. 

The first and most basic step to knowing your followers is knowing when they are mostly online. For me, I learnt that my followers are mostly active at about 10pm-1am (Singapore time: SGT). This means that if I post something during that window, I will be able to get the most likes. It's also why I do majority of my shout outs during that time. I found this out again, by trial and error. It's just something you will learn after having your account for some time. 

TIP: Everyone wants followers who are active 24/7. But that's obviously impossible. What you can do however is do shout outs during the whole day (THIS SHOULD ONLY BE DONE FOR A SHORT TIME LIKE 1 OR 2 DAYS). This will make sure that you have followers from different timezones and so you have active followers all through the day basically.

The second thing to do to know your followers is to know what kind of stuff they like. This is done by checking how many likes you get on a photo. If you get 300 likes on a cast photo, you know they like it. If you get 150 likes on an edit, you know they may not like it very much. 

While this should aid you in knowing what to post, always remember that it is ultimately your account and if you aren't comfortable posting something, even if your followers are crazy about it, don't post it.

Well that's all for part 3. Stay tuned for part 4 which will come out (as usual) when this post hits 100 views.

 If you have any questions you want answered, please COMMENT HERE. A lot of you have been directing your comments to my Instagram and while that's okay, it is easier for me if you comment directly here.

(P.S. Check out my other posts. They're just as good (I hope) There's even a TFIOS review up)

How To : Create A Successful Instagram Fan Page {Part 1}

I've decided to write this post as a thank you to my beloved followers for getting me to 6k.

So to commemorate this milestone, I decided to come up with a few blog posts, a series if you will, on how to create a successful Instagram fan page  account from the ground up. In each post, I shall have 3 points. I'm not yet sure how many posts there will be by the end of this. I can be long winded. 

So, let's get to it then.

1) JUST DO IT

Creating an Instagram fan page account can be pretty daunting. Well, it was for me. I had to think about things like if I would have time to manage an account (I created this account last year when I had to sit for my major Cambridge exams). I also wanted everything to be perfect. Little did I realise that with a fan page account, you can never reach perfection. You will always be improving in some way or the other. 

BUT I'm going out of point. The point is, don't think too hard. Just go for it. Having a fan page account is unpredictable and that's what makes it so damn fun.

2) YOUR USERNAME

There actually is a story behind my username. When I created my account, I was just out of the Twilight fandom and I was really into the Vampire Diaries and vampires in general. I had (and still have) this really cool book about all the different types of vampires and they had cool stuff about the evolution of vampires in fiction and stuff. So I was really into vampires. Hence I decided on the username Obsessedwithvamps. 

Again pretty irrelevant to what I really want to say about this point (sorry). When coming up with a username, follow these tips:

1) Do not copy. Be original.

2) Avoid numbers. It makes you look like a noob and it also makes it harder for people to remember your username

3) Avoid underscores though if you really want an underscore, just use one. Not 5 or 6. 

4) Try to use something that is catchy and that has a ring to it.

3) CREATE A KIK

This is super important when you have a fan page because it will be what you use to communicate with majority of your friends and occasionally, followers. You NEED a KIK. This is what you will use when you are communicating with people for SFSs, GSs, Megas and more (I'll make a post soon about the acronyms). You have to remember however, that this will be your professional KIK. 

What does that mean? Well firstly, it means that your particulars have to be on point. Your username, as far as possible, should be the same one you have for your Instagram. This will make it easier for people to find you on KIK. Again, don't have some crazy name.

Secondly, the format for your display name should be like this:

As you can see, it should have your name or nickname, followed by the number of followers you have (BE HONEST) and then you can put 'ON' or 'OFF' depending on when you are online so people know that they can contact you. 

Well, that's it for the first part of the series. I don't know why anyone would listen to my advice but I've been wanting to do this for  while so I don't really care. Part 2 will be out soon. 

Once again, thank you so much for 6K. Instagram has really become this big part of my life and I'm so grateful for all my 6000 friends. I honestly don't know why you guys follow me. I'm not the best editor out there. I'm not the most hardcore fan out there. So I'm really grateful that you guys don't care about that. Every follower, every like, its all special to me and I hope you guys know that.

**SIDE NOTE: I have included links to both my personal and fan page Instagram accounts by the side.