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Have you made money off your Instagram account yet? From today’s Live in my Facebook group 80% answered “No.” I would like to say I’m surprised, but I don’t think everyone knows there are so many options out there to monetize even if you are considered a “micro-influencer.”

1. Partner With Brands

   This one can be because of emails, dm’s (be on the lookout for red flags though), or from sites that I’ll mention in the “affiliate” bit.

   There are two ways of doing this or a combination of-

   1. Paid, posts in exchange for posts. Here’s a good post by Hootsuite for a general pricing guide. You can also charge without posting, just for creating content for the business.

   2. Product, posting in exchange for product. I don’t do this one as often as time is money, but if it is a product you would buy or standby, why not?

2. Affiliate Links

   This is when you make sales with your custom links/promo codes. IG also rolled out a tag a product way of doing affiliate sales through your post sales.

   You can find some affiliates that complement your niche through sites like ShareASale and Influence.co. I have an affiliate to things like Amazon, Canva, and Flodesk. Why not get paid for things you use, love, and would recommend anyhow?

   *These Last 3 are all strictly from Instagram*

3. Instagram Badges

   Make sure to check your settings and “enable badges” and then make sure your audience knows they can tip you! Works exactly the same as on Tiktok with “gifts.” Your audience pays IG your “tip” and IG pays you. In the past they used to take a small fee, but I had read that IG won’t be taking fees until 2023.

4. Reels Monetization

   Once again, check your IG settings. It will tell you there if you are eligible for monetization. IG will pay you for your reels views. I know it’s true because I get it. Not a lot, but it’s something.

5. Setup IG Shopping

   Once upon a time you had to be selling just physical products, which is great for small businesses and makers, but I believe IG will also be rolling out a way to sell services as well soon, if not already. From what I heard, it is really easy to set up your product sales if you are already using Shopify.

6. Instagram Subscriptions

   Ok, this one I’m still not a fan of, here’s my small rant, but it still just feels like a cash grab. Like IG got jealous and is copying formats of Only Fans and subscription sites, to just sell the exclusivity of your IG close friends circle. But hey, only time will tell.

What do you think? What avenue is speaking to you? And are you ready to take that dive and make some money? If not reach out to me! I’m ready to cheer you on or give you that little last push…let’s make you some money!

Before I dive into some easy points to get that engagement to convert into sales, let’s address the elephant in the room. The whole IG world is just in a slump. It isn’t just you. It’s just a matter of fact engagement is just down in general. More people are on the app and that also means more creators. But don’t let it get you down, this is where knowing your audience will be key, which I’ll address, ICA’s (Ideal Client Avatars) are just an important topic. You may be also questioning if it’s possible to make sales when your follower numbers are such and such… And, the answer is Absolutely! Yes! The 10K Follower Swipe-up Feature isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Trust me I’ve seen the numbers, and this isn’t just based on one account, we all see it. That swipe isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and neither are numbers so don’t worry about getting your followers to a certain number, focus on taking care of the people right in front of you! Your current audience, your people, now that’s what matters. Let’s focus on those people and how to sell to them.

Now for the fun! 5 Points of Turning Engagement into Sales:

1. Get into those DMs - Post in stories to encourage people to dm you or use their stories to start a non-sales conversation. Build up a connection, don’t be spammy, and start off with sales pitches. No one likes that.

2. Return the Love - As we like to say in my FB group, “Don’t Post & Ghost!” Reciprocate the post interaction. I want you to especially pay attention to the top 20 people interacting with you. If they are supporting you, support them back. Trust me it pays off, ties in with the “Like-Know-Trust” Factor.

3. Bring Value - Being the expert on a topic. Don’t over or under-sale your level of expertise. Play around with your amount of sales vs non-sales posts.

4. Consistency - I will preach this over and over again, but be consistent! Show up, stories/lives, like #3 build-up that connect for the “Like-Know-Trust.”

5. Understanding Your ICA’s Needs - Speak directly to your ICA. They will know you have the solution for their problem and there’s the sale.

Try it, try it all, and get back to me! If you need help and an extra little push just reach out to me. That’s what I’m here for. Also, if you want to stay in the loop, make sure to sign up for my weekly emails, especially after the recent social media outages. ;)

In the past I’ve talked about how to get followers, convert new followers, find clients, but today I am just talking about wooing the ones you have.

First, if you feel like you suck a Instagram sales, don’t feel alone! It’s hard to get sales on there. Instagram really doesn’t want anyone leaving the app, they hope people stick around and are being entertained. They now are introducing “Instagram Store” which will hopefully help, but in the meantime here are 10 ways to combat that.

1) You have to understand your Ideal Client (your ICA). I know I say this over and over, but really this is step number one, if you haven’t done it yet, make sure to read “DEFINING YOUR ICA (IDEAL CLIENT AVATAR)” this will be the key for all your other steps. Even if you read before, check back in, your client will always be evolving as will you.

2) Have a Game Plan. Are you on Instagram just to be entertained, that’s fine, but if you want to make a sale, make a goal and game plan to get that goal! Make a calendar. Plan out content and interaction time, avoiding the doomsday scroll when you are on goal time. I’m not saying it’s easy, but having a game plan makes it easier and will get easier over time.

3) Share Your Story! Your “Hero’s Journey” Create a connection. Why someone would know you, believe you, trust you? What about your history got you to know the product or information you are selling? Think “Like, Know, Trust.”

4) Show Your Face in Stories may be the easiest. Show up in video, show your face! Talk about your day, behind the scenes, your story, your product…the list goes on. It gets easier the more you do it and it breeds trust.

5) Solving your ICA’s Problems. You need to know your ICA (step one). Selling and romanticizing what your product will offer them as a result of doing or buying this. In marketing terms, in your marketing message. in your bio is a great place to start. Keep repeating the message, most of the time your audience your client won’t even know they have this problem that needs to be solved until they get your message.

6) Create a Juicy Reason for them to leave Instagram. Like I was saying in the intro it’s hard to get people to leave IG. And in your bio IG only gives you one link spot so you really need to create a reason that it’s worth clicking and leaving that entertaining scrolling. “Come to my website and buy my product” is a lot to ask, give them a juicy freebie or a discount, a reason to leave.

7) Slide into their DM’s. That’s what direct messages are for. If you feel someone is engaging with you a lot and you feel like they are your ICA start a normal nice conversation, before starting the sale. If they don’t want the dm they won’t read or respond, that easy. You’re just connecting and opening a conversation first. Also, can use stories to create an opportunity to dm for a direct sale! (Lesson on DM selling to come.)

8) Share Testimonials! One of the easiest ways to create sales is by sharing testimonials. This is not just you talk about yourself, social proof is a great way to help sell. People will see someone like them and say, “Oh, it worked for so and so…so this should work for me to.”

9) Utilize Instagram Shopping. They are putting billions, I mean BILLIONS into this, utilize it. They take a portion, but when they raise their portion, I think 30% raise your prices, people will understand. They are even opening this option for people selling things that aren’t just product-based.

10) ASK FOR THE SALE! Call to Action. The basic sales 101. Reels, stories, feed posts, make sure to have that call to action.

If you noticed I didn’t mention the IG 10k swipe-up. That’s because I’ve seen on multiple profiles the stats for it and honestly it isn’t there. The other steps mean more, take the pressure off getting to that 10k. Plus, I’ve heard they are working on a link sticker for stories so who knows, you might not even need that 10k swipe up at some point.

As always if you have questions, feel free to ask! I’m here to help!