Do you know that you can be sitting at your home while making money via instagram in the post Covid-19 era? Today’s article is just about that.
No, it’s not one of those typical easy making money ideas that the internet is flooded with. This is a genuine activity which can be done if it’s your passion, and involves some effort.
One of the most searched topic online must be making money off internet. Especially with the Covid-19, people are even more reluctant to go outdoors as before.
This has led to increased social media engagement, online shopping etc apart from the constant virtual meetings through video conference for office workers.
What is Instagram?
It would be surprising for someone to be discovering about Instagram now. But seriously, the social media photo sharing app has taken thw world by storm since its launch.
Now everyone – young and old are talking about instagram or IG, reels and what not.
If there is anyone who do not know about Instagram – it’s a free photo and video-only sharing social media app where you can share your photos and videos with captions.
There are no options to add a hyperlink on your posts – but that’s a way to keep it spam free, I suppose. You can follow other people including famous personalities and vice versa.
You can also chat via a Direct Message (DM) feature inbuilt in the app.
Making Money via Instagram
Businesses and brands use instagram to reach out to their customers and promote their brands on Instagram. But do you know that they are not the only ones using Instagram as a means to generate revenue?
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As an individual, people are making money via Instagram. And today we are here to learn how they do it. It’s interesting, I promise, so keep on reading as we discuss the 3 ways in which you can make money on Instagram.
1. Selling Fashion and Clothing Items on Instagram
Not only sharing their memorable moments, people uses Instagram to post goods and items they have for sale – especially fashion and clothing items are popular.
So someone who is selling fashion and clothing items post a photo of the items they sell along with the details such as size, price etc.
Other people come across the post, enquire about it via comments or direct messages (DMs). Finalize the price and make payment off the app and that’s it. That’s how people are making money via Instagram.
As the app is basically meant for social interactions and sharing and not an ecommerce platform, no payment can be processed within the Instagram app.
Why Buy and Sell on Instagram?
Very good question. Many people would argue that while there are dedicated ecommerce sites such as Flipkart, Amazon, eBay etc., why buy or sell on Instagram.
Let’s take a look at how it’s convenient for both the seller as well as buyer under specific circumstances.
Selling on Instagram
For the sellers, instagram being a social media platform, attracts those high-conversion customers.
Only people who are interested in the product notices the post, go on to enquire about the details and finally a good percentage end up with a successful sale.
Wait, did I miss this? It’s FREE to sell on Instagram! This means no seller fees as against those sellers on ecommerce platforms, no payment processing charges as against those opening their own dedicated online stores, and direct dealing between seller and customer only.
Based on the product category you usually put up for sale, you begin to build a small targetted community who are interested in the category of items you deal in.
This is very similar to building a mailing list in the world of Blogging. I strongly believe, that this is even more targetted that a mailing list.
This is rather unconventional use of the platform but nevertheless, permitted and instead very effective business. Wow! How many of you have thought of Instagram this way?
Buying on Instagram
Now it’s time for buyers – why would you buy a product off Instagram? For starters, you saved a lot of time browsing through the internet for that particular item, design and colour or texture of item.
It’s pre-sorted for you by someone of similar taste to you. The minute details are available and you can always interact with the seller about further details, additional photos based on angles, lighting and enquire about the fitting etc.
Being a very small business and the seller mostly individuals (instead of teams) you get the one-on-one attention you deserve as a buyer or prospective buyer.
Now that’s convenience. What’s online shopping for if not for convenience? Talking about that, you can arrange for direct payment without any third party charges (save courier).
2. Promoting Online Shop on Instagram
If you have a sufficient following on Instagram, there are more ways to make money. One way utilized by many leading brands is through referring their followers to their online webshop.
Here’s how you can do it by following a few simple steps.
Create a Business Instagram Account
You can easily sign up for a free Instagram account if you don’t already have one.
Switch your personal Instagram account to business by visiting your profile page. It’s free again.
Add Your Online Shop Link
Once you have created your business Instagram account, you can add your online shopping website link to your profile.
If you have a dedicated web store, add the link to it. Even if you don’t have one, you can simply add your affiliate link or even your Etsy shop URL.
There are many advantages of using business account. you will be able to view your reach, demographics of your following and easily create and run promotions.
3. Pomoting Other Brands Through Your Instagram Profile
The third method through which one can make money on Instagram is to be a social media influencer. The term is very common nowadays.
If you have a particularly large following and in a specific niche, you will benefit from other brands paying you to promote their relevant brands and products through your account.
You must have seen many Insta Models and Stars adding the line “For promotions contact us at our email xyz [@] ourmail [dot] com etc.
Promote brands and you could be making money via instagram and building new relations at the same time, a double win for you.
How Much Can you Make Selling Items on Instagram?
It depends. As said earlier, Instagram is essentially a social networking media and is not primarily meant for ecommerce.
You can make some amount of money via instagram this way by selling few handpicked products and items. It is not meant to be a full scale business for livelihood. Rather it’s more of a side hustle really.
We mention handpicked because otherwise you will not be generating any interest (read leads) from your photo posts.
However, today we are talking about a creative way you can be making money via instagram by simly doing what you do and at the comfort of your home.
How Many Followers Do I Need to Make Money on Instagram?
Ah! Interesting question. If at this point, you’re asking this question, we know we are getting to you.
So here’s the important thing. There are no fixed number of followers that you require in order to start making money via Instagram.
While having more number of followers will definitely mean that you have a larges customer or potential customers who will directly see your items for sell through their feeds, it may also appear on other non follower’s feeds as a suggestion.
This is the best part, you have more impressions or your posts is being shown to more people on Instagram.
One can not compare the reach of an Instagram account with 500 followers against those of 50k. More audience means more chance of conversion and ultimately, sales brings money.
Conclusion and Wrapping Up
So basically the idea og using Instagram as a meand to make money is from a promotional point of view.
It’s not Instagram that pays you. Rather you are using the platform as a means to promote your items for sale. Practice taking great photos of your items for sale and utilize the hashtag feature for more reach and to drive more engagement.
I hope you get insightful information through the above article on how you can be sitting at home and simultaneously be making money via Instagram – your favorite photo sharing social media app.
While your friends are simply sharing their photos and memories, you can make even more use of it by selling items to your followers.
As a buyer, you can find interesting and rare items which are not easily available at other shops or stores – online or retail.
Pretty interesting, don’t you think? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. We appreaciate your feedback.
