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

Social media marketing, advertising, and growth

Longinus

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Not judging. Yet.

I just wonder why you take so much time to defend yourself. If I was that successful with 3 businesses and a huge income, I wouldn't care less what people thought of me (=>FU money).

Or perhaps the FLF people are the exception?
 
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@Fox dropping knowledge bombs. :fistbump:
 

TinyOldLady

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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.
Wow! It's like watching a really exciting trial :eek:
 

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Wow! It's like watching a really exciting trial :eek:

Lol I’m pretty low drama and usually avoid these threads. It would be just nice if OP was telling us, not selling us.
 
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Argue

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“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.”
 

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InformationH

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Thought I'd drop in and leave my 2 cents on everyone's quest to build a massive Instagram following, thoughts on Instagram account engagement, and maybe leave a little value.

Personally I think taking the time to build a massive Instagram account is a waste of time and money for most people now a days. Especially if you’re gaming the system.

Many times you can simply reach out to pages with big followings and offer to buy their page (against TOS but I do know someone who did this and built an email list of 20k+ off of it that's been profitable) or buy cheap shout out's from the accounts to get traffic (which is what I've done).

The main problem with people trying to build massive Instagram accounts is many of them aren't patient enough to take it slowly and because of that they try to game the system resulting in rapid growth but a poor quality of followers.

The people that game the system to get a massive following generally monetize their accounts in 5 ways.

1) Selling shouts outs (that don't perform well because of the quality of their account)
2) Selling the account to someone that doesn't understand engagement.
3) Selling/Being an affiliate for a "How to grow an Instagram course"
4) Making several commissions on an affiliate offer when they land on the explore page
5) Using their Instagram follower #'s to help position them more as an influencer in their niche

And this is because the quality of their followers is generally poor that besides the above methods they can't monetize their following very well.

So when I was buying shoutouts for traffic I always wanted to make sure I was dealing with an account that had "real" engagement so I didn’t waste money

The following is some of what I learned.

Comments like "cool" "so awesome" etc. are clear signs of engagement pods or bot comments. Generally buying a shoutout from these accounts isn't worth the money because the majority of their engagement isn't from your ideal audience. However, if it gets you on the explore page it could be worth it at times. (hence why people use engagement groups even when they're promoting their own offers because if they get on the explore page they may get some decent traffic)

There are also engagement pods that require 5+ word comments that are harder to detect but if the majority of the comments still seem shallow and no one is tagging their friends they're likely still from an engagement group.

Luckily there are benchmarks you can use to determine the quality of someone’s engagement.

The following pics show some benchmarks for engagement that i set up in an excel file to tell me which accounts had true engagement that would be worth buying shout outs from. I don’t remember where I got these benchmarks from but I’m sure with a little research you can find the same one’s I did or updated ones.

Also, I have no idea if these benchmarks are still accurate and they likely vary slightly per niche but at the time of using them they worked well.

I used a program that pulled data on accounts that I was interested in buying shout outs from. The program (an open source program on github) pulled data on an accounts total pictures and ran the benchmarks for total likes and comments against their total followers. Obviously it wasn't perfect because in the earlier days they had less engagement so comparing it to their current followers wasn’t very accurate. but it was quicker then pulling the data on their last 10+ pictures by hand (which is what I originally did). You could also pay someone to pull the data for you.

I then set up rules that organized the sheet by engagement. If an account passed the like & comment engagement benchmarks I’d go in and look at the actual engagement to double check that it was real. Many times there was so much “engagement” you could also easily tell it was fake without even going to the page

In the “entrepreneurship niche” almost 80%+ of the pages would fail and had bought fake followers, likes, or were clearly apart of engagement pods. Other niches it was less common but definitely still around
 

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MJ DeMarco

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FYI, the images posted above...

instagram-benchmarks-png.18716


instagram-data-png.18717


instagram-data-2-png.18718
 
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MJ DeMarco

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Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Looks like the comment farm comes from anything that begins with "incredible"

incredibletutorials
incrediblefashion
incredibleXYZ

screen-shot-2018-03-16-at-17-46-23-png.18693
 

Fox

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Thought I'd drop in and leave my 2 cents on everyone's quest to build a massive Instagram following, thoughts on Instagram account engagement, and maybe leave a little value.

Personally I think taking the time to build a massive Instagram account is a waste of time and money for most people now a days. Especially if you’re gaming the system.

Many times you can simply reach out to pages with big followings and offer to buy their page (against TOS but I do know someone who did this and built an email list of 20k+ off of it that's been profitable) or buy cheap shout out's from the accounts to get traffic (which is what I've done).

The main problem with people trying to build massive Instagram accounts is many of them aren't patient enough to take it slowly and because of that they try to game the system resulting in rapid growth but a poor quality of followers.

The people that game the system to get a massive following generally monetize their accounts in 5 ways.

1) Selling shouts outs (that don't perform well because of the quality of their account)
2) Selling the account to someone that doesn't understand engagement.
3) Selling/Being an affiliate for a "How to grow an Instagram course"
4) Making several commissions on an affiliate offer when they land on the explore page
5) Using their Instagram follower #'s to help position them more as an influencer in their niche

And this is because the quality of their followers is generally poor that besides the above methods they can't monetize their following very well.

So when I was buying shoutouts for traffic I always wanted to make sure I was dealing with an account that had "real" engagement so I didn’t waste money

The following is some of what I learned.

Comments like "cool" "so awesome" etc. are clear signs of engagement pods or bot comments. Generally buying a shoutout from these accounts isn't worth the money because the majority of their engagement isn't from your ideal audience. However, if it gets you on the explore page it could be worth it at times. (hence why people use engagement groups even when they're promoting their own offers because if they get on the explore page they may get some decent traffic)

There are also engagement pods that require 5+ word comments that are harder to detect but if the majority of the comments still seem shallow and no one is tagging their friends they're likely still from an engagement group.

Luckily there are benchmarks you can use to determine the quality of someone’s engagement.

The following pics show some benchmarks for engagement that i set up in an excel file to tell me which accounts had true engagement that would be worth buying shout outs from. I don’t remember where I got these benchmarks from but I’m sure with a little research you can find the same one’s I did or updated ones.

Also, I have no idea if these benchmarks are still accurate and they likely vary slightly per niche but at the time of using them they worked well.

I used a program that pulled data on accounts that I was interested in buying shout outs from. The program (an open source program on github) pulled data on an accounts total pictures and ran the benchmarks for total likes and comments against their total followers. Obviously it wasn't perfect because in the earlier days they had less engagement so comparing it to their current followers wasn’t very accurate. but it was quicker then pulling the data on their last 10+ pictures by hand (which is what I originally did). You could also pay someone to pull the data for you.

I then set up rules that organized the sheet by engagement. If an account passed the like & comment engagement benchmarks I’d go in and look at the actual engagement to double check that it was real. Many times there was so much “engagement” you could also easily tell it was fake without even going to the page

In the “entrepreneurship niche” almost 80%+ of the pages would fail and had bought fake followers, likes, or were clearly apart of engagement pods. Other niches it was less common but definitely still around

Bingo. If you know what to look for and can run the numbers its not that hard to see who is real or not.

Again this isn't an area of mine but I have seen others game the system.
I stepped away since its like seeing SEO "magic" pre google algorithm changes - it won't last.


Looks like the comment farm comes from anything that begins with "incredible"

incredibletutorials
incrediblefashion
incredibleXYZ

screen-shot-2018-03-16-at-17-46-23-png.18693

Ya so there are computer systems that can pump out these pages. You load them up full of content and they run nearly like clockwork.
Sometimes they have a common naming system since someone has to keep track of a few 100 of these pages running on a computer somewhere.

They create a big web and then continuously link all over "want more funny content > check out @anotheroneofmypages"
The followers go round and round but there is no real depth or loyalty being built. They are just browsing funny videos, or memes, or hot girls - whatever.

Build the web > direct to a "personal brand" > product/service
Traffic > shopping cart > checkout

But monitize doesn't have to mean on Instagram...
- sell some seminars or consulting to a big brand
- a course on "personal following"
- an FB group full of upsells and affiliate offers


Anyway this isn't meant to be a guide - its more of a warning.
Build something like this and you are headed towards fraud/failure.
 
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Vigilante

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Argue

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It’s easy to look rich. All you have to do is the following:

1. Hire photographers

2. Rent a luxury car for 2 hours

3. Rent a hotel room

4. Make a fake Instagram account

5. Build a landing page

6. Choose the make money online niche

7. Get emails

8. Sell courses
  • Tell your photographer to take a picture of you in the Dubai hotel.
  • Then use that image as your landing page banner.
  • Use copy techniques (AIDA) to persuade people to join your email list.
  • Then sell them courses that cost $997.
Oh yeah, make an Instagram account(s) with fake names to like your own posts. Repeat hundreds of times to create an illusion of a person who’s rich.

Tools to start:

1. Sports Jacket

2. Watch

3. Camera

4. 1 night at a fancy/posh looking hotel

5. 2 hour rental of a luxury car. They’re easy to get in Vegas. Miami too. Photo purposes.

6. Laptop

7. Landing page

8. Instagram

9. Photoshop

10. Skinny jeans (skinny jeans are important if you want to be successful)
 
Last edited:

MJ DeMarco

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Must really suck having all those tourists in your 'penthouse' all the time.

Perfect example of "faking it until you make it" breaching an integrity line, from my opinion.

Odd thing is, the OP is telling the truth. He is IN the Penthouse, but doesn't live there, he rented it for a day or two. There is no deception here from a purely literal perspective.
 
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Arnika

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I have probably made the best decision joining FLF yesterday. So much knowledge people are dropping it is unreal. To many users to name, but everyone is just dropping knowledge.

I have been trying to crack the code of these $995 or $997 courses, I have always figured they are mostly BS. I wont drop names here, but I almost got sucked into an importing course with that price. But I was smart enough to think a little. If those people are making millions, why are they selling courses on YouTube and such?! Sell the course to 200 people and you made 200K. And with that 200K you can show off your car rental, pay photographer, etc as mentioned above.

Thank you each and every one of you! Looking forward to provide my knowledge on FLF in the future!
 
Last edited:

Longinus

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Odd thing is, the OP is telling the truth. He is IN the Penthouse, but doesn't live there, he rented it for a day or two. There is no deception here from a purely literal perspective.

Exactly. He also drives supercars. Never said he owns them.

tenor.gif
 
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G

GuestUser4aMPs1

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/offtopic

In my opinion, Threads like this opens up a HUGE opportunity for someone to start a website for verifying the legitimacy of public figures in this space, 'legitimacy' being defined by a standard set of criteria and presented in a 100% unbiased fashion (What's their Business? How long have they been in Business? etc.)

Unless you've honed your BS meter for long enough (often by falling for tricks over a period of time), it's getting harder and harder to verify legitimacy, because of tactics like...

-Getting Free Press
-Propping Up IG Followers
-Buying Positive Reviews from Bloggers
-Stretching the truth to the ends of the earth

Call it GuruList.

/ontopic
 

Eric L

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/offtopic

In my opinion, Threads like this opens up a HUGE opportunity for someone to start a website for verifying the legitimacy of public figures in this space, 'legitimacy' being defined by a standard set of criteria and presented in a 100% unbiased fashion (What's their Business? How long have they been in Business? etc.)

Unless you've honed your BS meter for long enough (often by falling for tricks over a period of time), it's getting harder and harder to verify legitimacy, because of tactics like...

-Getting Free Press
-Propping Up IG Followers
-Buying Positive Reviews from Bloggers
-Stretching the truth to the ends of the earth

Call it GuruList.

/ontopic


Interesting, i wonder if something like this can be automated.
 
Last edited:

DGS

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Interesting, i wonder if something like this can be automated.

Is this thread not worth it?

I skimmed through the first post and page, I didn't read everything yet.

Edit: Just went through page 3/4... this thread doesn't worth it. What a waste of time.
 
Last edited:

Xeon

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Hi what's it called?

Google Wolf Global, engagementgroups.org and allengagement.blogspot.com.

In my opinion, Threads like this opens up a HUGE opportunity for someone to start a website for verifying the legitimacy of public figures in this space, 'legitimacy' being defined by a standard set of criteria and presented in a 100% unbiased fashion (What's their Business? How long have they been in Business? etc.)

Reminds me of this youtuber, Don Shipley:


His channel is all about exposing fake Navy Seals.
I can totally imagine Fox/SinisterLex doing the same thing.

Wear a black hoodie with sunglasses, create videos in a dark room, and get a title called "The Guru Buster, SinisterLex" or name the channel/website "GuruNemesis Fox".
 
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MJ DeMarco

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In my opinion, Threads like this opens up a HUGE opportunity for someone to start a website for verifying the legitimacy of public figures in this space, 'legitimacy' being defined by a standard set of criteria and presented in a 100% unbiased fashion (What's their Business? How long have they been in Business? etc.)

Damn you! I've actually bought some domain names for this purpose as I was thinking about it either as an INE, or actually doing it.

Problem is the verification would have to involve both offline and online processes, a quite cumbersome process considering everything online can be faked, including screenshots of banking statements.

Here's my banking statement I pulled -- looks real eh?

Imagine if I posted this on my landing page to lure unsuspecting money-chasers into my sales funnel -- looks legit!

my-bank-statement.jpg
 

GMSI7D

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That's a great thread, I'll read carefully later. Thank you.

yes because you won't find this kind of information anywhere else on the web

the free content you can access here is much more interesting than most books available on amazon.com written by false gurus.


a smart guy could even surf this forum, grab the best ideas, write an ebook and sell it on amazon.com

the ad would be :

" dear entrepreneur, don't waste your time reading thousand of thread on the fastlane forum , here is he best content for just 5 dollars on your kindle device "
 

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