Why your follower count does not matter

Oooop! Sure it looks nice but it actually doesn’t mean a whole lot!

What if I told you that the number of followers you have on Instagram won’t actually make a huge difference to your sales… But it’s the *kind* of followers you have that make a big difference.

Don’t know about you but I would rather have 1000 followers who love what I do and might buy from me one day than 10,000 followers who are completely random and have no interest in me or what I do.

So rather than looking at your follower count and feeling deflated, look at WHO is actually following you!

We can of course still grow but let’s shift the focus on attracting the right people! The kind of people who will comment, like and engage with you! Who I’d take over a massive follower count every day.

THE NUMBER OF FOLLOWERS YOU HAVE DOES NOT MATTER

If I had named the title of this ebook “How To Grow Your Instagram Following To Book Clients,” I guarantee that it would get a lot of downloads, because that is what most people are so worried about. They want to grow, and they want it fast.

I get it, it’s hard to not focus on that number by your name. I most certainly have days where I spend too long focusing on it too. It’s normal.

But I’m here to tell you to stop. The number doesn’t matter. You can have a very successful business, and not have 100,000 followers. I promise that you can… because I do.

I have 6000+ followers as I type this. Yes, that’s quite a lot of people, but it’s quite small in comparison to a lot of 

photographers I follow. Some of the fashion photographers that I admire the most have over 100,000 followers. They’re successful, and take beautiful images. There are also some photographers that I admire who only have 1000 followers. They’re also successful, and take beautiful images.

The power of Instagram is when you stop focusing on your follower count, and begin to focus on providing value. That’s what I’m going to be focusing on today. Because, guess what, when you focus on value, your growth happens on it’s own! Value is the secret to growth.

GET UP, CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH OUR WHY

As creators, we often have a lot of goals bubbling around our heads…

Reach 10k on Instagram and get that swipe up.

Collab with our favourite brand.

Get featured in the press.

But WHY do you want to achieve these things?

What lifestyle are they going to help you to achieve? What impact are they going to allow you to have? What difference will it all actually make to you?

Getting clear on why you do what you can (and should!) help to guide every decision you make in regards to how you spend your precious time.

For more inspiration on this, search up Simon Sinek’s TED Talk “Start With Why”.

Influence” doesn’t have to mean that your posts are seen by millions of people.

You and all of the wonderful, unique things that you have to say online can have a real impact.

And, remember, changing one life is more powerful than being seen by hundreds!

STOP WAITING TO HAVE ‘ENOUGH’ FOLLOWERS BEFORE YOU SHOW UP

I’ll be the first to admit that I can get caught up in the numbers. It’s hard not to. But I want you to take a step back for a moment and realise what you’ve got.

Check your follower count (lol as if it isn’t already ingrained in your head) and scroll through these photos to SEE your people. SEE the room you’re speaking to. SEE the number who have chosen to hear what you have to say.

If you were stood in front of those people would you stay quiet until another 2000 turned up? Would you hold back your best content because there’s not enough of them? Would you dampen your energy because 3 decided they fancied a bit of fresh air and left? No you flipping wouldn’t. You’d push through the discomfort, you’d bring your A game and you’d bring it NOW.

You may not always see it. Heck, you may not always feel it. But you have impact!!! There is space for you. You have something to bring to this world and people want it.

SO SHOW UP. Create that thing. Start that conversation. Share like there’s a roomful of people waiting to hear what you have to say. Bc guess what? There is.

Mollie x