Thank you, Karin; I will have a look at Eric's training this afternoon. I appreciate the heads-up.

All the best.

Roy

That may not be a bad thing, Karin! It does appear that different social media platforms work for different niches, which I understand. Sometimes we just have to experiment and see what works best. I can believe that the traffic from Facebook would be limited.

Sometimes I think we are just better off focusing on our website content rather than playing with social media too much.

Have a fantastic Sunday.

Roy

I hear you, Stephen and I couldn't agree more.

The reason that I thought I would give Instagram or Instaban a try is I have heard of several people who have had success. However, I have always struggled to understand Instagram as it's not real information or certainly not the sort of information that I am generally looking for. It's more of a picture book.



I very much like LinkedIn, I think it's a good, solid and professional platform. It's interesting that you mention Quora, as I don't have an account with them. However, I was thinking of creating an account as I was just carrying out some research on Google and there were two articles that were both on Quora that I would quite like to comment on.

I do find that Facebook and Instagram like that professional touch, Stephen.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Roy

If you want a Quick Look at Quora and what I have set up( My personal space) as you can too, go to my profile here at WA and you will see my Quora link.
You can build up a following pretty fast and I am always getting people asking me questions. A bit of work, but nothing from nothing. We have to put in the hard work.
Steve

Thank you, Steve, that's appreciated.

I'm just looking at Jay's training on the subject of Quora to get a few tips. It's actually from 2019, but I'm sure it will help me understand the basics. Once I have set up an account, I will have a look at your account, Steve.

Roy

Thank you for taking the time to comment, Dave, it's appreciated.

It seems like quite a few members have had Facebook issues, which makes me wonder if we should really use their platform at all!

It's disappointing when someone like yourself has gone to all that effort and then Facebook just closes you down for no real reason! It's very frustrating. Which is another good reason for focusing on website content rather than social media content.

Personally, Dave, I wouldn't spend too much time on Facebook, I would put that time into your website.

I heard a story 2 or 3 years ago about a successful Internet marketer who was using Facebook pages for his business. He had around 750,000 followers. However, after looking at his analytics, he discovered that Facebook was sending him very little traffic. He was spending 75% of his time on this website and the 25% remaining time on Facebook.

From that point on, he only really posted to Facebook rather than responding to every comment, it made no difference to his website traffic. I'm sure that sometimes these social media platforms convince us that we need them, even though we don't!

Have a fantastic Sunday.

Roy

That's what I thought, Nick!

I don't think that's a bad thing to loathe, Nick, as I do often think we would be better off without social media. On the other end of the scale, I get a lot of genuine news from Twitter since it has been taken over by Elon Musk.

I have never particularly liked Facebook, partly due to its cumbersome and clunky platform and the fact that you are banned if you don't go with the narrative! Twitter is much easier and more straightforward to use.

If you're looking for a professional social media platform, I would definitely go with LinkedIn, as I feel like you are dealing with people at a different level.

I think you are right about Pinterest, I do use Pinterest, but not particularly in a serious way. I don't think you get banned quite so much on Pinterest.

It's sometimes difficult to know what to do, Nick, I guess it comes down to try and keep writing good quality content.

I have just changed the title of my blog post, I have added the word "Instaban" as it's properly more of an appropriate name!

Have a great day and thank you for commenting.

Roy

Hello Romy,

That's fantastic to hear, Romy, it's always good to hear a success story and I am really pleased that Instagram is working for you.

I have never quite understood Instagram, despite hearing success stories, etc. I'm guess that I am someone who reads rather than looks at visuals. However, for something like fabrics or clothing, maybe that's where Instagram comes in where something is very visual. I hope that despite the changes, it's still working for you.

I may well need your help, Romy; let me see how I get on, your help may well be appreciated.

Enjoy your weekend.

Roy

Yeah Roy, it is important to understand where your target spend most of its time and focus on that platform!

I must tell you that I prefer Pinterest over Instagram because it is still visual but your efforts still have effect after years, while IG is so fast and one post has a very short life.

Anyway, send me a PM and I will surely help you to understand better the platform!

Thank you Romy, I do appreciate that.

It's funny, I have used Pinterest for several years, but not particularly seriously, although I post on Pinterest when I remember.

Pinterest makes a lot more sense to me as one of the things I have never been able to understand with Instagram is the fact that you can't put links in your actual posts.

It seems that Instagram and Facebook get lots of publicity and yet platforms like LinkedIn, which I find far more professional, do not seem to get that much publicity.

Roy

Instagram is for brand awareness Roy! It is not important that you could not put the link in the post, because actually YOU CAN put the link in your bio!

And I assure you that customers who are interested in working with you find very easy to visit the bio for the link or even better, they write you via messages.

I run my business without having any website for years, using only Ig and a catalogue link put in the bio! So it could work!

What you do on Instagram is making people aware of your brand, your aesthetic or values, your products. You could talk directly to customers via stories or live! There are really a lot of way for expressing yourself inside Ig.

Now, Ig is running after Tik Tok so it is becoming more like short form content platform BUT it is still visual and it is still used as a search engine for visual related informations!

I personally use Ig everyday as a second nature while I use Pinterest as user only when I need to perform a super specific visual research.

So don't understimate IG, it is still powerful and it can bring you a lot of customers if you do your work on post, storie and reels!

I really appreciate you taking the time to write about your Instagram success, Romy!

That's a good way of putting it, Romy, "brand awareness". I've always been aware of the link in the bio, but wondered if people would really click, but it appears to have worked well for you, which is fantastic.

Do you think if you started with Instagram today, you would have the same results, or do you think those days have passed, Romy? I will give Instagram a try as I have set the account up for my offline business.

Most of the comments on here have been more on the negative side, but that may be due to the type of post that I have written. I do really appreciate you sharing your experience, Romy, thank you.

A very happy Sunday to you.

Roy

Yeah Roy, for IG users clicking on the bio to read about the brand AND getting the website link is perfectly natural, they don't see it as a problem at all!

I will tell you more: all experienced marketers on IG, put in bio a Linktree link: so in just ONE link you can display several links and the customers choose where to click. Very common and useful.

Well, if I had to start on Ig today which I WILL SURELY DO for my other business, I would do this:
- prepare in advance at least 2 months of VISUAL contents (posts, reels, and carousels which seem to perform better right now)
- give your feed an AESTHETIC (people scroll your feed to have in a second a general impression about your brand)
- search in adavance hashtags (now in Meta business, you can schedule Ig contents and there is the hashtags helper which provides a lot of suggestions) but do and expand your research on your own too.

And then prepare to INTERACT: answer comments, private messages, reactions to stories. Remember that IG is a social, first.

Said all this, consider my last point:
"Your Feed is Your Brand". It will stay there forever and inspire all those that discover your profile. So take care of your feed, make it interesting, aesthetic and reflect the colors and mood of your brand!

Stories last 24 hours only, while the Feed will be always there for customers to see what and how you are doing, so invest your time in it. It will pay you off.

:)))))

Thank you for your comprehensive reply, Romy, it's appreciated.

I know where you're coming from, I use Twitter quite a bit, so I'm used to how it functions, I guess it's the same with platforms like Instagram.

Linktree is one of those platforms that I have thought about having but have never got around to it; maybe I should! Do you use linktree, Romy?

It sounds like you have gone deep into Instagram, especially if you would prepare two months' worth of visual content, etc. That's a lot of work when you start interacting with people. I'm amazed that stories only last 24 hours, I guess this is why I question social media sometimes. When a post is on your website, it can last for many years.

It sounds like you have Instagram very finely tuned, Romy, which is great. I do really appreciate your help and support, so thank you very much for all the suggestions.

Have a great day.

Roy

PS: I guess it's a bank holiday in Italy as it is here in the UK. My wife is in Greece at the moment as it's the Greek Easter weekend, so Tuesday will also be a bank holiday due to Easter falling on May Day.

You welcome dear Roy! I just wanted to open a window in the realm of possibilities within Instagram, and I am pretty sure that - once you will start knowing better the platform - you will like it too!

Yes, I use linktree in all my social IG profiles!

Having at least two months of contents prepared in advance, gives you the right leverage to gain exposure faster, bacause if you post everyday, you will surely grow!

About the stories, it's crazy they last only 24 hours, so don't bother yourself too much with great graphics! Just show some pictures about your life, the beautiful countryside where your live, the trees would be great, because it will add that personal touch about you that people really like to watch! On the opposite, treat every post of the feed as a blog post, because it will stay in your feed forever :)

Have fun with IG! It is a very creative platform with a lot of inspiration!

P.s. Check your competitors on Ig to understand how they organized their feed in order to do better :)

P.P.S. What is a bank holiday?? Lol!!!!

Thank you, Romy, I do appreciate you spending so much time explaining how Instagram works, etc. It's funny I know how to use Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Facebook pages, even though I don't like the Facebook platform. However, Instagram has always been the platform that I have never quite understood or felt at home with.

I must seriously think about setting up a link tree profile or actually making it happen; I have been thinking about it for far too long!

I understand where you're coming from, it's always good to have plenty of content ready and waiting. I guess it's the same as a website, the more you post, the greater the results will be.

I can potentially show some quite nice photographs as my offline business takes me to some really nice homes and gardens and pleasant locations.

I will try and enjoy the process.

That's a good tip, as I can easily look at competitors.

I know what you're saying about the bank holiday, I was up at 4:45 AM, as I had lots of things that I wanted to do. Fortunately, I don't struggle to get up in the morning, as I like to make the most of the day. I hope your Monday is going well, Romy.

Enjoy the rest of your day.

Roy

Thank you dear! Enjoy the creative process on Ig and if you have any other question, please let me know!!!

Ciaooooo

Thank you, Romy, I appreciate it.

That's a good way to look at it, "a creative process"!

Have a great day.

Roy

Thank you for commenting, Johann, it's appreciated.

I hear where you're coming from, I believe that different niches can be suited to different platforms.

Do you still have a big success from Facebook, Johann, as I know many things have changed on Facebook over the years? For example, when Facebook pages first came out, they were brilliant, but then Facebook changed their algorithm.

I very much like LinkedIn, Johann, I find it much more professional for business than other platforms. But once again it does depend on a niche.

Enjoy your weekend.

Roy

After the changes on Facebook, things have been much better for me there.

I have 2 sites. For one of them, it is like Facebook, which is a built-for-me site.

The others don´t fit in Facebook, but Pinterest is good for that. TikTok would be good for it, but I am not ready for that yet.

LinkedIn is not good for me, but it is important for me to use it for links. From a distance, I would believe that Instagram would not be good for you because it is a business. However, LinkedIn is about business, so it should be ideal.

But I like it more and more Medium the better I know it.
I have never been much for Reddit; Quora is better, but...

It's interesting that the changes on Facebook have been better for you, Johann.

I think different niches are suited to different social media platforms.

It certainly appears that different platforms work better for some people than others.

Thank you for your input, Johann, it's appreciated.

Have a great Sunday.

Roy

Thank you for commenting, Jeff, it's appreciated.

I understand where you're coming from, Jeff, regarding Facebook. It's not clever; that's one reason why I am slightly reluctant to support their platform.

I agree we have to be so careful with time and social media can quickly run away with our time.

Enjoy your weekend.

Roy