To Automate or Not to Automate?

Step 11: At some point in my first 20 days I considered automating.

I loaded the Crowdfire App and tried the free version for a day, but it didn’t make sense to me.

The free version didn’t have the functionality I was expecting and was asking me to post Instagram posts belonging to huge influencers (but not any of the one’s I follow).

Now on Pinterest, StumbleUpon and Flipboard I happily post other people’s articles all day long as curating is an essential part of the strategy on these channels. But I just couldn’t see how posting other people’s posts would fit into my Instagram posting strategy.

So I deleted the Crowdfire App off my phone and continued with my usual steps.

On Day 20 Lynne Huysamen (@lynnehuy) offered me a trial of Mass Planner.

We tried it out for a couple of days for my Happy Human Pacifier Profile but I just couldn’t get comfortable with the loss of control. While Mass Planner is switched on, I’m not able to follow any new people. I wasn’t mad about “unfollowing” people either.

So for me, for now, automation is out. It doesn’t fit into my philosophy of connecting personally with other Moms (see Golden Tip 2 to follow).

I also noticed that Mass planner has discontinued their service and Lynne just posted this blog to provide some clarity: Mass Planner Shut Down...

Comment below... do you use a program or app to automate your posting, likes, follows and unfollows on Instagram? Which automation tool do you use and why? And if not, at what point (if ever) do you plan to automate?

Step 12:

Once I reached 1000 Followers, I was able to join Webfluential and get an idea of what I could charge for sponsored blog posts ($150) and Instagram posts ($30 per post). This was my end-goal. HOORAY!

Click Next Page for my 5 Golden Tips...