How do you grow your following in 20 minutes or less a day? How do I get in front of more people? How do I book more clients? And how in the world do I grow my social media following? I get questions like these all the time. The first thing that I want to point out is that your following counts AND your follower count should not be something that you’re overly obsessed with.

Again, I want to remind you it is always quality over quantity. That is the mindset I want you to take when you are on your social media accounts. Okay? The whole point is you get in front of people that align with what you have, and that you are the expert in that area for them. The whole point is to build relationships that lead to paying clients. 

You also have to pay attention to what you’re doing, and what type of content you’re actually putting out there. So if you keep doing the same thing for six months over and over and over again, and it’s not working and you’re not growing, then something has to change. You can’t just keep using your broken marketing strategy over and over again. 

How to Show Up

My first tip is you need to make sure that you are showing up correctly. Are you using your platform of choice correctly? If you don’t know how to do that, I created a short Social Media Course, where you can truly dive into Instagram and Facebook to learn their purpose and map out your next 30 days of content. 

You have to be the one to make the move. You are on offense, not defense, when you’re growing your following. What do I mean by that? I mean sitting on the dock waiting around for people to come to you is the worst strategy you can have. 

Follow Others

You need to be following new accounts on a daily basis. I don’t just mean any account out there. I mean accounts that align with you. This could be local businesses or other small business owners. If you’re a senior photographer, you could start following moms of high school seniors or high school seniors themselves. If you are a newborn photographer, this is getting in front of businesses that align with the types of customers.

I would start out with a small business that you know your ideal client, either shops at or interacts with as a customer in some way. Follow them. Then, you’re going to start looking at their followers and the people who are engaging with their posts. It doesn’t matter if this is Instagram, or a Facebook page. You can do this for any platform. If they fit your ideal profile and you think they could be a potential client, then you’re going to request to follow them. I recommend following about five new accounts a day.

Engagement

Now it’s time to engage just following somebody one time and allowing them to be flattered or see your name is not going to be enough for the majority of people to like, turn around and book you right? I can assure you that if a photographer started following me, if I was not a photographer, I would definitely go check out their page, I would see if I’m even somewhat interested in their style. If I am that I would want to stay engaged with them.

You need to be engaging with these new followers on a daily basis. Here’s where the hard work comes in.  I like to think of my social media as dating. If you neglect that person, you guys are not going to have a healthy relationship. You’re probably not going to have a relationship at all. It’s just like when you have a first impression when you meet for the first time. You want to get to know each other and then you need to continue to build on that relationship. It’s not weird to watch their stories. It’s not weird to comment on their photos. Just be a genuine person. 

Client Experience

I am friends with almost every single one of my clients. That is my choice. You do not have to do that. I do that, because once I work with someone, we’re family and connected for life. There’s very few clients that I can say I no longer have a relationship, but everybody else, we’re in it for life. That’s why I have so many recurring clients. We’re friends on Facebook and we connect all the time. When they have a session with me, I share it on my personal profile as well. Why? Because I get the most engagement that way, and their friends can immediately see who I am. I’ll even tag my business page, so I have a double chance of them to either follow me or add me as a friend. It’s amazing and works flawlessly.

When you post your work on your Facebook page, go back and see who commented, who hit the heart button and who reacted to that particular picture. Then, go through everybody, and if you’re not friends with them and think they’re a really good candidate that is who you can friend request that day. Then, you can continue to engage with them over the next couple of weeks to tell Facebook you care about that person. That is how I want you to approach your social media. 

Wrap Up

I hope you found this helpful as you work to grow your following and your business. Don’t forget to join us for the Boost Your Bookings Bootcamp! Can’t wait to chit chat with you in the group soon. Now go get social!

Want to hear even more tips on how to grow your following? Then, head over to the Book More Clients podcast. You can also find the podcast on iTunes and Spotify.

Don’t forget to join my community of photographers for a safe place to ask questions, share your wins and connect with other awesome photogs — Social Selling for Photographers and connect with me on Instagram!