1,000,000 Followers On Social Media: How I Am Doing It & How You Can Too

[Damian Pros]

So, based on your reactions, let me know if you want me to:

A) Post things WHEN I can and have time ONLY, without dictating how much I post or what I choose to hold back for the time being. In this case, there will be no negative comments or cynicism, or I will just have to stop posting altogether. I am just not willing to waste even more time trying to prove the goodness of my intentions.

B) Stop posting and simply do one and only update when I hit my goal. Which will apparently cover far less things than I would cover by posting as I go. This will seriously save me a lot of time, but won't help you as much.

C) Drop the thread altogether.

I understand where your responses are coming from and I am empathetic towards your comments.

Still, I can't help but be repelled by cynicism. Especially unsubstantiated claims and accusations, like the existence of an ulterior motive to manipulate you by selling imaginary seminars and "stealing your souls". WTF.

Much love,
Damian

 

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[Fox]

The last part is hilarious Sorry dude, but I ain't got any link to my website/seminar to send you, because there is nothing being sold.

 

[WJS]

View attachment 18604

Because sometimes a picture is worth more than a thousand words. LOL

Cynicism overdose here.

A 19 year old in my group just bought a GTR and pulls almost 100,000 a month. He's gonna have a multimillion dollar home and a Lamborghini before he's legally allowed to drink alcohol.

A 22 year old makes more money than 80% of people in his country and works from his home, while supporting his parents financially.

An 18 year old has a dropshipping business that generates over $1,000,000 a year.

Here's what I don't understand. If the people in your group are absolutely "killing it", shouldn't you be spending 24/7 there instead of here in the forum, explaining yourself / rebutting the members' claims? That's what I'd do! Why would I want to waste my breath if such group really do exist?

 

[Fox]

Wrong. They are from shoutouts in bigger accounts.

Sure.

Earlier in this thread...

5) It reduces the credibility and status of your account.

So why do you have dozens of obviously fake comments instead?

I will outline everything I am doing here on my way to building a personal brand with a total following of 1,000,000 people on my personal profiles, across various networks like Twitter, Instagram, YouTube & Facebook.

Its hardly a personal brand if all your comments are fake and your numbers drop everyday unless you get a shout out/buy more from another fake inflated account?

Im sure you got a few real friends in the mix but don't you think you are being quite misleading with your "following"?

 

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[TinyOldLady]

Any of his points you could google in a few seconds or simply guess if you knew anything about the platform.

From what I know you need a massive following but also a large number of accounts appearing to be you. Instagram then moves to give you a blue star so it becomes clear which one the real account is. It is a common enough tactic of people trying to get to verified to pay someone to create fake copy accounts so it looks like they are having this issue. Report the issue to IG > maybe get blue star.



OP doesn't even have a blue tick. Just a link to an Instagram course.

His followers are all bought also.

damianprosalendis Instagram Stats Summary Profile (Social Blade Instagram Statistics)

View attachment 18573 View attachment 18574

Those massive green + numbers mean bought followers.

They slowly die off in the days that follow cause they are all fake accounts which slowly get banned or unfollow. A real account is steady consistent growth in the green.

I know cause I have done this in the past for traveling > get some big followers, post some good pics with lots of (fake) likes, and you show up the top for an area. Handy way to meet new people.

I stopped though since...

1) its all fake and while it was fun for traveling now that its linked to my business I don't want it to seem I am trying to be anything I am not. Hence the new account soon.

2) it destroys your accounts real growth. Now that I am actually working on building a YouTube Channel I will need to delete my old Instagram and start again. Fake followers is way worse than follow/unfollow if you are actually trying to make money with IG. It would be like trying to start a cool new nightclub so you fill it full of manikins.

OP Id love to know how much it costs to get a mention and backlink from Inc. though.

Hey @Fox , thank you very much for the social blade link. I didn't know there is such a thing. It's really interesting to compare the stats of MJ or Gary V versus the account of Tai Lopez and ... well... other people

 

[MJ DeMarco]

2. Looking forward to the GOLD sign.

Excellent!

3. If it becomes greasy sales funnel, remove me from the forum.

Actually you're welcome to post a "greasy sales funnel" or even a live link to a training in the marketplace which is a paid ad. When the thread is sponsored, then we know there's a sales process. The tension you're getting from this post is because it sounds like a Marketplace ad, when it isn't.

1. You will see you are wrong.

I hope so, in such cases I welcome being wrong. Given the choice of having great value posted at the forum or being right -- I'll take great value and being wrong! And complete with an apology.

 

[Xeon]

It would cost you $25,000+ if you paid an agency to do it for you. I was about to do it. I didn't. I can have VAs submit applications and most likely get it done for $250.

If it costs a VA to do it for just $250, have you done it already? If not, why not?
Especially since the blue tick is so coveted.

I chose to keep that strategy secret because I hadn't personally implemented it. I don't talk about stuff I haven't done myself. I know someone who used it to grow multiple accounts by 100k+ followers within just a week

Growing IG accounts by 100k+ followers within a week is an epic feat, that would put your IG account at around the same tier as someone like Zac Efron (34m followers). Based on the stats on socialblade, his account from 6 Mar 2018 - 12 Mar 2018 (1 week period) grew by approx ~120K followers.

At that kind of insane growth rate, it puts even Lady Gaga, Snoop Dogg and Vanessa Hudgens' IG growth rate to SHAME!!!

Why didn't you start using that technique on your IG accounts? It's been almost 2 months since you talked about it in your previous post. If you can grow 100K+ followers every week, you can easily surpass your bro Tai Lopez who's at 2.9m followers.

On a side note, I always have this feeling that gurus like Tai Lopez and a whole lot of other Tier-1 gurus, have some sort of invite-only support network, whereby they've connections in there to get each other featured on Inc and Forbes etc? And their lambos are actually all shared, which they then use to take pics and post on social media? Just speculating.

Especially unsubstantiated claims and accusations, like the existence of an ulterior motive to manipulate you by selling imaginary seminars and "stealing your souls". WTF.

In short, in your FB groups which have a high reject rate, you're doing charity work by spending most of your time there? Zero upsells or products? Zero revenue? If so, let me give you a pat on the back. There's very few noble souls like your good self nowadays who would do so much work for free.

 

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[Arnika]

@Damian Pros Please do keep us posted about the process.

@Xeon I totally see where you are coming from. I am always skeptical about stuff like this. But I am smart enough not to buy in to their sale funnels at the end.

It is hard work growing Instagram nowadays. And there are a lot of gurus out there. Maybe he has a built network already with a couple of accounts with a few hundred thousand followers, or even millions. What I have heard recently is that Instagram favors if you get likes and comments from such big accounts. If he has the network already, and he gets likes and comments, from huge accounts maybe he beats the algorithm. I am also trying to grow my Instagram account and have received likes and comments from accounts with few thousand followers, even close to 100k but it didn't seem to help me.

I have also heard the first 60 minutes matter the most, if you could get a lot of likes and comments, you make it to more people feed, and even the search page. Have not able to accomplish this yet with 1.8k followers, and a lot of telegram engagement groups.

Maybe shutouts are the way to go, but I am skeptical about the followers I would get from those. And from big accounts it costs a ton. So it is still a slow grind.

 

[Xeon]

Maybe he has a built network already with a couple of accounts with a few hundred thousand followers, or even millions. What I have heard recently is that Instagram favors if you get likes and comments from such big accounts. If he has the network already, and he gets likes and comments, from huge accounts maybe he beats the algorithm. I am also trying to grow my Instagram account and have received likes and comments from accounts with few thousand followers, even close to 100k but it didn't seem to help me.
I have also heard the first 60 minutes matter the most, if you could get a lot of likes and comments, you make it to more people feed, and even the search page. Have not able to accomplish this yet with 1.8k followers, and a lot of telegram engagement groups.

Maybe yes, maybe no. Maybe he's indeed an IG legend whom we're not aware of.

With regards to that "get likes and comments from big accounts", it only helps if those accounts which liked and commented on your post are i) very large accounts and ii) more crucially, they are in the same niche as you.
(I believe IG is smart enough to group accounts into basic categories like Girls, Cars, Jokes, Pets and so on).

I tried buying power likes that flood my post with likes from large accounts within the 1st 10 mins in order to do what you said, but it has zero impact. Another member, @BlakeIC , also did the same thing if I recall in his thread.

This means, if your account is all about hammers, and you get 800 Likes and 150 comments from giant accounts (> 500K followers) within the first 10 mins, it WILL NOT get you on the Explore page and you will not go viral or anything close.

If your account is all about cars and you get 800 Likes and 150 comments from giant CAR accounts, that's a different story. And even then, it's not going to be "100K+ followers within just a week".

But let's be open-minded and not cynical. I believe Damian can do it.
We're all here to learn, after all.

 

[GatsbyMag]

People who are making real money don't spend time on online forums trying to convince other people that they can teach them how to make money.

And if you really cared about other people that much, you'd be spending your money and time on causes that actually matter.

The difference between you and MJ DeMarco is that MJ named his book "The Millionaire Fastlane " to lure people out into the light and show them that getting rich isn't easy and that it's not solely about meeting your needs to become a ferrari owner. You on the other hand, you're leading people further into the darkness.

You should stick with your sheep-like and hopeful target audience, over here lions eat wolves.

 

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[secondhanddog]

Still, I can't help but be repelled by cynicism. Especially unsubstantiated claims and accusations, like the existence of an ulterior motive to manipulate you by selling imaginary seminars and "stealing your souls". WTF.

Everyone is just sick of the sales pitch, people are here to share knowledge - not spend half a dozen posts on how great you are.

If you really have a great instagram strategy I'd definitely love to hear it.

 

[secondhanddog]

View attachment 18604

It's annoying these sales pages all look exactly the same, the bottom date hasn't even been bothered to be fixed {tcb_current_year}.

I tried buying power likes that flood my post with likes from large accounts within the 1st 10 mins in order to do what you said, but it has zero impact. Another member, @BlakeIC , also did the same thing if I recall in his thread.

This means, if your account is all about hammers, and you get 800 Likes and 150 comments from giant accounts (> 500K followers) within the first 10 mins, it WILL NOT get you on the Explore page and you will not go viral or anything close.

If your account is all about cars and you get 800 Likes and 150 comments from giant CAR accounts, that's a different story. And even then, it's not going to be "100K+ followers within just a week".

Some solid details there. Thanks!

 

[IamCJTurner]

Being so new to the forum, I am still unsure of what is forum etiquette and what is not.

From your title "1,000,000 Followers On Social Media: How I Am Doing It & How You Can Too"

I expected to find out, how I can do the same too.
However, I didn't really get any information, other than how great you are - and if you want to grow fast, you need to be "verified".
I guess it's my own fault for believing the title. Silly me.

As a busy business owner, I don't have the time to wait for "secrets" and get locked into some kind of sales funnel. I have better things to do with my time.
When I read this kind of marketing spiel, the author loses integrity; in my humble opinion.
Especially when the product you are selling, you have brought the followers to back up your claim.

A few days back, I sat on a webinar from Foundr magazine, offering a similar claim to yours.
I allocated some time out my schedule to sit in - got my notepad ready and I was massively disappointed.
The information was pretty stock and essentially, I sat through 1.5 hours of a sales pitch.

I'm really getting bored of these type of marketers and although I am getting better at spotting them, I am not as experienced as some of the members here.

I might be wrong in my estimation of you. If so, I apologise.

 

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[Andy Black]

Being so new to the forum, I am still unsure of what is forum etiquette and what is not.

From your title "1,000,000 Followers On Social Media: How I Am Doing It & How You Can Too"

I expected to find out, how I can do the same too.
However, I didn't really get any information, other than how great you are - and if you want to grow fast, you need to be "verified".
I guess it's my own fault for believing the title. Silly me.

As a busy business owner, I don't have the time to wait for "secrets" and get locked into some kind of sales funnel. I have better things to do with my time.
When I read this kind of marketing spiel, the author loses integrity; in my humble opinion.
Especially when the product you are selling, you have brought the followers to back up your claim.

A few days back, I sat on a webinar from Foundr magazine, offering a similar claim to yours.
I allocated some time out my schedule to sit in - got my notepad ready and I was massively disappointed.
The information was pretty stock and essentially, I sat through 1.5 hours of a sales pitch.

I'm really getting bored of these type of marketers and although I am getting better at spotting them, I am not as experienced as some of the members here.

I might be wrong in my estimation of you. If so, I apologise.

^^^ This comment is extremely important for those of us selling to business owners.

Time is precious to business owners. Waste it and you’ve lost all credibility with them.

My litmus test is whether I think a business owner would continue reading/watching/listening. If they wouldn’t, then it’s a B2C play.



@IamCJTurner

(I can’t comment on this thread as I’ve not read any of it, only these later comments.)

Don’t worry... it won’t take long to get as experienced and jaded as the rest of us with the sheenagans going on online.

A couple of red flags for me are “secret” and “webinar”. When someone uses those words I pretty much ignore anything else they have to say.

The main red flag is if there’s too much fluff. Too much unnecessary “hero’s journey” (the rags to riches story). Too many “open loops”. Writing too unnaturally (not how normal people talk to each other down the pub).


Check out @SinisterLex ’s Guru Cult thread.

 

[Musashi]

View attachment 18604

Could someone please explain why stuff like this works?

Whenever I see a page like that, I immediately click away. It smells like clickbait, bullshit, scam and whatever. I would never ever think about following the CTA. I can also not think of anyone I know, who would do so.

So who clicks on those pages?

 

[Damian Pros]

View attachment 18604

I am not sure what part of "free" or "nothing being sold" is not clear to you.

 

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[Damian Pros]

Sure.

Earlier in this thread...

So why do you have dozens of obviously fake comments instead?

Your assertion was that my followers are fake because they increase suddenly in big numbers. I told you they are from shout outs, hence why you see me growing a lot only on particular days, which are the days of the shoutouts.

Now you say that my comments are also fake too.

Guess what, if the followers were fake, would they make comments?

Uhmm....no. What kind of fake follower comments on a post? lol

Check the accounts in the comments. They are not fake at all. They are big pages that have anywhere from 100,000 to 300,000 to 1,000,000+ followers.

You are being easily deceived by appearances, and do not pay attention to details.

I do agree with you that those comments look spammy, but they are from engagement groups, not fake followers and they help push the content to the explore page.

 

[p0stscript]

So who clicks on those pages?

I wonder that as well, there must be enough doing it it for it to be viable, and it must be viable because there are so many of these advertisements about.
@Damian Pros could possibly give us some insight without giving too much away.

 

[Damian Pros]

If it costs a VA to do it for just $250, have you done it already? If not, why not?
Especially since the blue tick is so coveted.

Growing IG accounts by 100k+ followers within a week is an epic feat, that would put your IG account at around the same tier as someone like Zac Efron (34m followers). Based on the stats on socialblade, his account from 6 Mar 2018 - 12 Mar 2018 (1 week period) grew by approx ~120K followers.

At that kind of insane growth rate, it puts even Lady Gaga, Snoop Dogg and Vanessa Hudgens' IG growth rate to SHAME!!!

Why didn't you start using that technique on your IG accounts? It's been almost 2 months since you talked about it in your previous post. If you can grow 100K+ followers every week, you can easily surpass your bro Tai Lopez who's at 2.9m followers.

On a side note, I always have this feeling that gurus like Tai Lopez and a whole lot of other Tier-1 gurus, have some sort of invite-only support network, whereby they've connections in there to get each other featured on Inc and Forbes etc? And their lambos are actually all shared, which they then use to take pics and post on social media? Just speculating.

In short, in your FB groups which have a high reject rate, you're doing charity work by spending most of your time there? Zero upsells or products? Zero revenue? If so, let me give you a pat on the back. There's very few noble souls like your good self nowadays who would do so much work for free.

Reasonable concerns that I am happy to address.

1. Here is why I haven't done it.

I run 3 businesses, manage over a dozen employees and another dozen contractors. I do that from 8 to 2. From 2 to 5 I read books, watch videos/courses, listen to podcasts/audiobook and generally learn stuff. From 5 to 12 I have English pronunciation classes to eliminate my Greek accent, dance training, train 2 different martial arts and hit the gym to lift heavy weights. Then I gotta come back, take the dog for a walk, shower, eat, read a little, and sleep.

Considering how I've structured my schedule, implementing multiple growth strategies at the same time, analyzing results, and scaling methods is a pretty tough game.

I am learning how to pull this off, how to better manage people, automate tasks and systemize processes so that I can make the most of those early mornings I have to devote to my businesses.

When there is so much going on, you can imagine how quite simple things like getting a blue tick or testing a growth strategy, can be hard to pull off.

People go crazy with just 1 biz. Imagine 3, plus all the other things.

2. For the 100k+ growth tactic:

I am not sure if it can be replicated week after week, consistently and without saturation. It has been proven to produce that growth when it was tested once, for about a week. It could be possible. But my acquaintance hasn't tried to scale it long term, and I haven't even tested it myself at all.

3. Am I doing charity work for the FB group?

Quite possibly the answer is yes. Zero revenue, zero upsells, no promotions, nada.

Maybe I shouldn't do it. I don't know.

It's just the priceless feeling that you've impacted someone's life in a meaningful way and made a difference. You know?

See

Of course I am not saying there is nothing in it for myself.

My brand grows, I have a pool of people loyal to me, who are gonna help me if I ask for their help and If I ever wanted to sell to them, I surely could.

 

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[Damian Pros]

@Damian Pros Instagram favors if you get likes and comments from such big accounts. If he has the network already, and he gets likes and comments, from huge accounts maybe he beats the algorithm.

Correct.

Check my comments. It's usually big pages, many even in the 1,000,000 to 5,000,000 range.

 

[Damian Pros]

People who are making real money don't spend time on online forums trying to convince other people that they can teach them how to make money.

And if you really cared about other people that much, you'd be spending your money and time on causes that actually matter.

The difference between you and MJ DeMarco is that MJ named his book "The Millionaire Fastlane " to lure people out into the light and show them that getting rich isn't easy and that it's not solely about meeting your needs to become a ferrari owner. You on the other hand, you're leading people further into the darkness.

You should stick with your sheep-like and hopeful target audience, over here lions eat wolves.

I am not teaching you how to make money here.

I am making a bold move and documenting my progress and what I learn.

FYI, people who are making real money have the power to choose to spend their time however they like.

If you ever make real money, you will understand this.

 

[Damian Pros]

Being so new to the forum, I am still unsure of what is forum etiquette and what is not.

From your title "1,000,000 Followers On Social Media: How I Am Doing It & How You Can Too"

I expected to find out, how I can do the same too.
However, I didn't really get any information, other than how great you are - and if you want to grow fast, you need to be "verified".
I guess it's my own fault for believing the title. Silly me.

As a busy business owner, I don't have the time to wait for "secrets" and get locked into some kind of sales funnel. I have better things to do with my time.
When I read this kind of marketing spiel, the author loses integrity; in my humble opinion.
Especially when the product you are selling, you have brought the followers to back up your claim.

A few days back, I sat on a webinar from Foundr magazine, offering a similar claim to yours.
I allocated some time out my schedule to sit in - got my notepad ready and I was massively disappointed.
The information was pretty stock and essentially, I sat through 1.5 hours of a sales pitch.

I'm really getting bored of these type of marketers and although I am getting better at spotting them, I am not as experienced as some of the members here.

I might be wrong in my estimation of you. If so, I apologise.

First, I wrote "how I am doing it" not "how I have already done it".

Does it get more clear than that?

By the same token, you should expect for "secrets" to unfold as soon as I learn them, and not instantly when you open the post.

If you don't have time to go through it, wait until the thread is complete and the journey documented from beginning to the end.

Lastly, the difference between that webinar you're talking about, and this thread is that here there is nothing to be sold.

 

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[Damian Pros]

I wonder that as well, there must be enough doing it it for it to be viable, and it must be viable because there are so many of these advertisements about.
@Damian Pros could possibly give us some insight without giving too much away.

Sure.

I put together than page in under 10 minutes, 1.5 year ago. Never touched it after that. Hence why the footer hasn't been updated. Shit I gotta fix that.

It's been converting at a rate of around 25% - 50% depending on the source of the traffic.

Why does it work?

- it's free
- there is no risk
- it's intriguing (how can a 19 year old do that?)
- the promise is specific (actual numbers I did at age 19 that I can back up)

And above all, it's TRUTHFUL.

I don't have a college degree. I had never run a business before. I do it just from my laptop, from wherever I am in the world.

Usually you won't land on this page until you've browsed my site for a while, ready my story, my about page, my articles on my blog.

If you do those things, you know that what's on the landing page is real and you subscribe to find out more.

If cold audience falls on the page, I guess they will have more doubts, like some of you guys do.

 

[p0stscript]

Sure.

I put together than page in under 10 minutes, 1.5 year ago. Never touched it after that. Hence why the footer hasn't been updated. sh*t I gotta fix that.

It's been converting at a rate of around 25% - 50% depending on the source of the traffic.

Why does it work?

- it's free
- there is no risk
- it's intriguing (how can a 19 year old do that?)
- the promise is specific (actual numbers I did at age 19 that I can back up)

And above all, it's TRUTHFUL.

I don't have a college degree. I had never run a business before. I do it just from my laptop, from wherever I am in the world.

Usually you won't land on this page until you've browsed my site for a while, ready my story, my about page, my articles on my blog.

If you do those things, you know that what's on the landing page is real and you subscribe to find out more.

If cold audience falls on the page, I guess they will have more doubts, like some of you guys do.

Thanks. May I ask is it mainly the younger generation responding to your ad? a broad demographic? or is there no way of telling?
For something you did in ten minutes one and a half years ago that is good returns, although an update (the footer date especially) may improve traffic.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Being so new to the forum, I am still unsure of what is forum etiquette and what is not.

Welcome, the forum etiquette is we don't like bullshit marketers selling bullshit. So this thread has attracted a little heat because it comes across to some in that way.

I am making a bold move and documenting my progress and what I learn.

First, I wrote "how I am doing it" not "how I have already done it".

OK this makes sense. As such, I've moved your thread to the EXECUTION category which is for progress threads that document processes that are ongoing.

 

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[Fox]

Instead of arguing I will show how this works...

I am not an Instagram guru but I know quite a few people who have gotten huge followings on Instagram through "hacks" and I met someone traveling who ran a massive Instagram hack business so I got some insight on this.

To get to 1,000,000 followers you have two main options:

Game it or earn it.

Game it:

This is the approach used in this thread.

You follow/unfollow to get a base. Once you get to around 10-20k followers it starts to look crazy suspicious when you are continuously follow/unfollowing people so you have to switch up your approach.

You can link in with some commenting groups (like OP) that give you shout outs and comments. If you know the people then it doesn't have to be paid but it isn't "natural growth". These usually come from pages that are run in a large network. They all like and comment on each others stuff. Some of these can be really elaborate (like 1000s of connected pages) but the general idea is you either pay them or your large enough to return the favor (and both mutually win).

These large pages are usually based around easy to gain follower niches like fitness, inspiration, art, style, lifestyle, travel etc. These pages are built up to monetize and while they have large followings the followers aren't really tied to any kind of brand. They just follow cause its 1 of a 1000 pages that popped up with content they like so they click follow. Large numbers but zero emotional connection and loyalty to the page.

So quick recap... there are large networks of these big pages that are used to prop up "real" personal pages (again like OP). A "real" page isn't just fun pics of cupcakes and snowboarding crashes > this time its all based around an actual person or a real brand. The big viral pages are used to push followers and eyeballs to the personal pages. This is why you see the huge spikes in the OPs followers going up (when the large page pushes eyeballs in that direction) but the continuous fall off of followers afterwards.

Suck people in with fun/cool viral pages > push that attention to the "real" page and hope it sticks.

So lets say there is a Ferrari page that has all cool pics of cars and 400k followers. One day one of the pics is of OP in his rented Ferrari and the caption reads "check out this mad lad here @inserttag". Now OP gets some decent traffic and he is up 4000 followers in one day. But the problem is these people are really really fickle. Once OP sticks up a few more pics and it isn't all cool cars they bounce. Maybe a few stick around but they have very little (zero) loyalty to this actual personal brand. They just want to see cool stuff but it doesn't really mean anything on a personal level. They are getting their daily micro dopamine hit of whatever thing (cool cars for example) and they give it a like.

This approach usually caps itself unless the page has some really good content that can actually get people to really engage and stick around. They need to have something else that people can't get elsewhere that will convert that traffic into an engaged fan. This is what will get a page to 1,000,000 but it will take a lot of work. Great photos, really dialed in on what people want, great videos and daily stories. Basically you need real engagement or it will never take off. The algorithm is looking for 1,000 of unique comments, people sharing it, real likes by real people, watch time on videos, views on daily videos etc. You can't really hack this last stage.

One group who this actually works for really well is hot girls. They can maintain the attention of random traffic much better and convert that into a "fan". But that fan doesn't have that much loyalty either and when the next hotter girl comes along people bounce elsewhere. This is why lots of girls pages get progressively "more attention seeking" over time but I digress.

So to make the hack approach work you need to still base it on something that will gain real traction. With generic "bottles and leased Ferraris" you do maintain some followers but they aren't that engaged. Hence the only comments on the OPs being from the large pages (network) that drive traffic.


The Earn It Approach

This is the real deal - you have a huge podcast, or YouTube channel, or are a model, athlete, signer, artist. You got real unique talent and the ability to create true fans. You are producing content that the other big pages need (cause they usually don't make their own) so you will naturally getting a lot of shout outs and tags.

BUT it can still be gamed.

Someone I highly suspect of doing this in his early stages was Conor McGregor. Now he of course has a huge passionate fan page but at the same time (about 2 years ago) there were pics showing up EVERYWHERE directing back to his page. I would imagine these guys have the cash and connections to get in with a REAL network (like legit big pages) and get the word out. I know of one person who runs a network like this that connects to 100s of huge pages.

The big difference here is that when people actually land on someone like McGregors page they very easily get sucked into his personal brand. There is real substance so that flow of followers stick.

Verdict:

OP is using the first approach but claiming it is the second. Buying media shout outs is an attempt to make it look legit but a trained eye can spot the difference right away. The thing is there is nothing morally wrong in doing the first IF you can make it work. If you want to buy shout outs and use networks to get traffic that is up to you. But don't try convince us its cause you are some social media rockstar lol. This is a forum where we share, not sell.

"but I am not selling you a thing!" < yes you are, you are selling us your story so you can monetize it elsewhere.

What annoys me about this thread is he is selling himself as someone "a social media master" when its all propped up by a network that any of us here could buy/connect into. If he had just been clean up front about it then it would have been cool to see the process. Instead its 90% hype, 10% general instagram advice that is available on google.


How to actually do it for someone on here.

- Have good content. Content is king.

- Start with follow/unfollow. It might not be cool but if you target the right people they will actually be somewhat engaged. You need this core base later

- Once you get to around 10k start using paid shout outs and strategic alliances. If you can get in on a legit comment group then go for it.

- This will get you to around 30-50k but you don't want to push it all the way. These followers are way more fickle and too many will backfire at later stages. These are the dead pages you see with 170k followers and 30 comments on a pic and 1500 video views. I highly suspect this will happen to OP unless he switched up his approach.

- Once you gain traction you really need to start working on building something unique to get the rest of the way. A new style of whatever it is you do. Real insights and cool content. Something that really makes people comment, share, and like.

If you don't then once you get the bigger numbers (over 50k) it will be too late when you get real fans on board. They won't give you enough of a real % boost and you get stuck. You won't be able to grow without starting a new page. You see this a lot "new page over here everyone" < they got bite by their own growth hacks.

----

So there it is. Again I am not an IG expert so there is a little rough but I just hate seeing people get sucked into some guru nonsense. Power to OP for putting in the work to try make it take off but no need to come sell it here as something other than what it really is.

 

[Fox]

Two legit way of telling if a page has real engagement or not...

1) Videos.

You can use bots very easily to get likes (and generic comments) but videos are harder to fake...

Videos are hard to fake cause they go off actually watch time. I think it is a minimum of 3/5 seconds.
But bots don't quite make this happen - unless you really know your stuff - so you need somewhat real numbers.

Lets check Peter McKinnons page and see how this works...




The video has WAY more views than the pictures around it has likes. This makes sense since only a few people will like either but a lot will view both.
The video tracks the views though and the pics the likes. We got a nice 10:1 engagement here (58k views on video to 5.4k on that photo - it passes the Fox BS test).

But over yonder...




The photo has more likes than the video has views.

Way out.

Some real engagement here (maybe) but its heavily propped up.


2) Comments

Comments (and likes) are bought (in one way or another) in two main ways...

- Using a ton of spammy pages that follow 5,000 people and only has three pictures. If you have ever been on IG you know what these look like.
- OR using a few "big pages" but as we know these come from a network and don't represent anything real (as far as brands and actual people go).

The second are a little harder to get but fake all the same (again in terms of having an actual brand)

Lets see what is going on here in action...



Comments from both big and small pages which are all clearly unique and legit.
The content of the page/pic is mentioned along with the personal brand ("Yo Peter")

But...



Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

You are being easily deceived by appearances, and do not pay attention to details

Detailed enough for ya OP?

 

[Xeon]

Instead of arguing I will show how this works...

I am not an Instagram guru but I know quite a few people who have gotten huge followings on Instagram through "hacks" and I met someone traveling who ran a massive Instagram hack business so I got some insight on this.

To get to 1,000,000 followers you have two main options:

Game it or earn it.

Game it:

This is the approach used in this thread.

You follow/unfollow to get a base. Once you get to around 10-20k followers it starts to look crazy suspicious when you are continuously follow/unfollowing people so you have to switch up your approach.

You can link in with some commenting groups (like OP) that give you shout outs and comments. If you know the people then it doesn't have to be paid but it isn't "natural growth". These usually come from pages that are run in a large network. They all like and comment on each others stuff. Some of these can be really elaborate (like 1000s of connected pages) but the general idea is you either pay them or your large enough to return the favor (and both mutually win).

These large pages are usually based around easy to gain follower niches like fitness, inspiration, art, style, lifestyle, travel etc. These pages are built up to monetize and while they have large followings the followers aren't really tied to any kind of brand. They just follow cause its 1 of a 1000 pages that popped up with content they like so they click follow. Large numbers but zero emotional connection and loyalty to the page.

So quick recap... there are large networks of these big pages that are used to prop up "real" personal pages (again like OP). A "real" page isn't just fun pics of cupcakes and snowboarding crashes > this time its all based around an actual person or a real brand. The big viral pages are used to push followers and eyeballs to the personal pages. This is why you see the huge spikes in the OPs followers going up (when the large page pushes eyeballs in that direction) but the continuous fall off of followers afterwards.

Suck people in with fun/cool viral pages > push that attention to the "real" page and hope it sticks.

So lets say there is a Ferrari page that has all cool pics of cars and 400k followers. One day one of the pics is of OP in his rented Ferrari and the caption reads "check out this mad lad here @inserttag". Now OP gets some decent traffic and he is up 4000 followers in one day. But the problem is these people are really really fickle. Once OP sticks up a few more pics and it isn't all cool cars they bounce. Maybe a few stick around but they have very little (zero) loyalty to this actual personal brand. They just want to see cool stuff but it doesn't really mean anything on a personal level. They are getting their daily micro dopamine hit of whatever thing (cool cars for example) and they give it a like.

This approach usually caps itself unless the page has some really good content that can actually get people to really engage and stick around. They need to have something else that people can't get elsewhere that will convert that traffic into an engaged fan. This is what will get a page to 1,000,000 but it will take a lot of work. Great photos, really dialed in on what people want, great videos and daily stories. Basically you need real engagement or it will never take off. The algorithm is looking for 1,000 of unique comments, people sharing it, real likes by real people, watch time on videos, views on daily videos etc. You can't really hack this last stage.

One group who this actually works for really well is hot girls. They can maintain the attention of random traffic much better and convert that into a "fan". But that fan doesn't have that much loyalty either and when the next hotter girl comes along people bounce elsewhere. This is why lots of girls pages get progressively "more attention seeking" over time but I digress.

So to make the hack approach work you need to still base it on something that will gain real traction. With generic "bottles and leased Ferraris" you do maintain some followers but they aren't that engaged. Hence the only comments on the OPs being from the large pages (network) that drive traffic.


The Earn It Approach

This is the real deal - you have a huge podcast, or YouTube channel, or are a model, athlete, signer, artist. You got real unique talent and the ability to create true fans. You are producing content that the other big pages need (cause they usually don't make their own) so you will naturally getting a lot of shout outs and tags.

BUT it can still be gamed.

Someone I highly suspect of doing this in his early stages was Conor McGregor. Now he of course has a huge passionate fan page but at the same time (about 2 years ago) there were pics showing up EVERYWHERE directing back to his page. I would imagine these guys have the cash and connections to get in with a REAL network (like legit big pages) and get the word out. I know of one person who runs a network like this that connects to 100s of huge pages.

The big difference here is that when people actually land on someone like McGregors page they very easily get sucked into his personal brand. There is real substance so that flow of followers stick.

Verdict:

OP is using the first approach but claiming it is the second. Buying media shout outs is an attempt to make it look legit but a trained eye can spot the difference right away. The thing is there is nothing morally wrong in doing the first IF you can make it work. If you want to buy shout outs and use networks to get traffic that is up to you. But don't try convince us its cause you are some social media rockstar lol. This is a forum where we share, not sell.

"but I am not selling you a thing!" < yes you are, you are selling us your story so you can monetize it elsewhere.

What annoys me about this thread is he is selling himself as someone "a social media master" when its all propped up by a network that any of us here could buy/connect into. If he had just been clean up front about it then it would have been cool to see the process. Instead its 90% hype, 10% general instagram advice that is available on google.


How to actually do it for someone on here.

- Have good content. Content is king.

- Start with follow/unfollow. It might not be cool but if you target the right people they will actually be somewhat engaged. You need this core base later

- Once you get to around 10k start using paid shout outs and strategic alliances. If you can get in on a legit comment group then go for it.

- This will get you to around 30-50k but you don't want to push it all the way. These followers are way more fickle and too many will backfire at later stages. These are the dead pages you see with 170k followers and 30 comments on a pic and 1500 video views. I highly suspect this will happen to OP unless he switched up his approach.

- Once you gain traction you really need to start working on building something unique to get the rest of the way. A new style of whatever it is you do. Real insights and cool content. Something that really makes people comment, share, and like.

If you don't then once you get the bigger numbers (over 50k) it will be too late when you get real fans on board. They won't give you enough of a real % boost and you get stuck. You won't be able to grow without starting a new page. You see this a lot "new page over here everyone" < they got bite by their own growth hacks.

----

So there it is. Again I am not an IG expert so there is a little rough but I just hate seeing people get sucked into some guru nonsense. Power to OP for putting in the work to try make it take off but no need to come sell it here as something other than what it really is.

This is the load of information that isn't covered elsewhere on those generic "how-to-grow-your-IG" articles! Rep'ed $100 to you! Damn, this is so much priceless info I can't even digest all of it now and I need to re-read it again tomorrow morning. If I could prostrate myself in front of you, I would.

 

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[Fox]

In conclusion...

OP isn't making money off IG. He is spending money to montize it back somewhere else.
By building a "big" page it is easier to get people to drop money elsewhere on X product/course.

Its like saying you got 1,000,000 "engagements" when you are using adwords. Those are paid clicks my friend. So saying this thread is "personal branding" is highly misleading.

Don't go thinking this is a real following. Its marketing. And if you are the one thinking of buying whatever you are the market.

"but that course is free!!!" > What about the $3,000 an hour calls.

That he started this thread the way he did is clear he sees us as the market, not the folk who he will show the behind the scenes look to.

Again - there is real hustle here but we are the ones that are getting the wrong end of it.

 

[inputchip]

Instead of arguing I will show how this works...

@Fox comes through to save the day by dropping more value in one post than OP's entire thread.