Welcome to our fifth guest blog! We love collaborating with such talented people with each blog and delight in learning from the wisdom of each of our guest bloggers. Our last guest blog featured an honest run down on Influencer Marketing with Gerard Lavery or better known by his Instagram tag, @gerrylavz_. This week we’ll be chatting social media again, but with Jill from Home at Rose Cottage. Jill has amassed over 13,000 followers on Instagram sharing her top tips, tricks and experiences within lifestyle, interior and family life. Jill will be giving an insight into standing out from the crowd on Instagram, something we feel she does perfectly, making her a prime candidate and suitable font of knowledge on this. Without further ado, it’s over to Jill…
Thinking back to when I first started out on Instagram, being surrounded by super creatives with great talents, as a newbie I was totally intimidated and really didn’t know where to start. Looking at my most favourite accounts to follow I started to realise they all had a unique and recognisable style. I would immediately recognise one of their images when it popped up on my feed, without having to even see their name. Little did I realise at that point, the months, maybe even years of hard work (and most likely tears and tantrums) which it would have taken them to create this unique style.
Find your style
Having been on Instagram for over 3 years now, it has taken the majority of that time to discover my style. Finding your style takes hard work, dedication and the courage to try something new; But the outcome is a feed that exudes passion, personality, and individuality in a way that taking someone else’s simply cant. Along the way I have taken risks with outcomes that weren’t what I had hoped for – plummeting engagement, loss of followers – but I picked myself up, dusted myself off, made a few minor tweaks and tried again. I needed to take these scary steps to get it right. Ultimately this was how I truly began to understand my own personal Instagram style and subsequently, what works for me as a creative. The learning, the mistakes and the successes are all a vital part of this journey.
Creator authenticity…
I was (and at times still am) influenced to create images I think Instagram wants to see, without considering what I want to create. Its so easy to get caught up chasing the aesthetics of what I think Instagram wants to see and then forget to ask myself what to I want to see and create. Instagram has become an echo chamber of ideas; we are all drinking from the same mug of inspiration, so it is to be expected. We follow the same people, ‘like’ the same posts, see the same trends, the same places, so, naturally, at times, the content we surround ourselves with can feel repetitive. It is totally saturated with cups of coffee, bunches of peonies, food flatlays, and of course, there is not a thing wrong with this, we all enjoy seeing them on our timelines and they do make beautiful images. However, it can become more challenging to grow your following when the market it so saturated, and the competition is fierce. This is where I felt my images needed to stand out, to grab attention and hold interest.
The Instagram community is massive – there really is a someone for everyone.
Standing out from the crowd on Instagram will only ever be a good thing and you will always find someone who is interested in your content. For me picking a couple of things I have a passion for and really concentrating on creating content around those has been key. You’ll find more success on Instagram doing one thing brilliantly, than you will doing a few things average. My Instagram journey has (and still is) about pushing boundaries, challenging my mind, asking questions, stretching my skills and most importantly taking risks. I am constantly striving to do more, always posting my best, surprising my audience, sharing content that wows and winning users over through my content. I suppose the challenge always is staying positive and keeping up the momentum.
So are you going to join me in standing out from the crowd on Instagram?
To keep up to date with Jill as she stands out from the crowd, you can follow her Instagram
here. A big thank you to Jill for collaborating with us on this post – I think you’ll agree she has a flair for writing and a passion for her content! If you’d like to collaborate with us on our guest blogs, get in touch! We’d love to work with you.
For more information from us on utilising your Instagram and content, you can pop us a DM on Instagram or visit our website, we’re always happy to help!
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