28 Year Old Built A $3M Business In 10 Months Thanks To Instagram

[Ubermensch]

Is Instagram worth investing a lot of time in?

Anyone have any metrics on returns on effort?

This reflects your linear thinking on the subject.

You're trying to take a hammer to this situation...

But this situation isn't a nail.

There is nothing for you to hammer away with, with your rough language of "returns" and "metrics."

Free your mind.

Why would anyone want to follow you?

Would you post pictures of your lifestyle?

Or would you scowl at your computer screen, and type your screeds about metrics. Perhaps you should re-read your Robert Greene, good sir. It seems you have forgotten the chess versus Go dichotomy discussed in the 48th Law.

Play Go with Instagram, not chess.

Do not be so rough and mathematical with Instagram.

Play with her.

Instagram is a female cat.

It loves beasts.

That's why famous people and rich people and influential people make Instagram go boom with likes and followers.

Instagram is not Google. It is not SEO. It is not PPC.

My Instagram is @whealthandpower.

I have 2200+ followers.

I follow six people.

I am just playing with Instagram.

I have only posted seven pictures.

I get an average of 100 - 200 likes.

Play with her, like a little baby kitty cat.

Attract her with your strength and your valor.

Your angry demands for "returns on effort" remind me of an impatient lad, desperately wondering when the girl he is taking out on a date will give him action.

Don't stress the poor girl.

She'll give it to you when you deserve it.

Do not beleaguer her with such crude language as "ROI." To her, that three-letter word may as well be a four-letter word.

I will monetize her in the future, but even to do so makes it sound as though I am pimping her, which would be...

Well, let's not get off-topic.

The point is, I do not wish to pimp Instagram, at least not at this time.

I just want to test it out, take it for a test drive.

 

[100k]

....Event news.

What about the process?

 

[Ubermensch]

At the start of 2012, 27-year-old Arvin Lal was pumping iron with his friend, Michael Dimarco, a chiropractor who mixed his own herbal supplements. The friend gave him a weight loss remedy. "I tried it and I lost 8 pounds in two weeks. I asked him is this legal? If so let's mass produce it," Lal told Business INSIDERS. Lal had a credit card with a $5,000 limit, and Dimarco had a credit card, too, and off they went to bottle the supplement now named Shredz.

​

http://www.businessinsider.com/28-yr-old-built-a-business-on-instagram-2013-10

The fact that people can create businesses in such borderline accidental way makes me wonder how much money someone makes when money - i.e revenue, profit and the bottom line are the aim and focus.

Such power Instagram is.

Wonder how Andrew Carnegie, JP Morgan, and the other titans would have used the tech strategies and tactics that we moderns take for granted.

 

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[healthstatus]

OMG, he created an online business without knowing how to program! He just found existing programs and platforms and used them...

 

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[Rickson9]

At the start of 2012, 27-year-old Arvin Lal was pumping iron with his friend, Michael Dimarco, a chiropractor who mixed his own herbal supplements. The friend gave him a weight loss remedy. "I tried it and I lost 8 pounds in two weeks. I asked him is this legal? If so let's mass produce it," Lal told Business INSIDERS. Lal had a credit card with a $5,000 limit, and Dimarco had a credit card, too, and off they went to bottle the supplement now named Shredz.

​

http://www.businessinsider.com/28-yr-old-built-a-business-on-instagram-2013-10

 

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[johnp]

Ya, a lot of money to be made off Instagram. My wife started an online shop drop shipping a pet product. became profitable in 1.5 weeks, with 100% of traffic driven by Instagram.

There are other tools and bots that can really help with this, in addition to the tools that the author talked about. The problem that I saw was that if she stopped then traffic to the site dried up pretty fast.

 

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[100speed]

This reflects your linear thinking on the subject.

You're trying to take a hammer to this situation...

But this situation isn't a nail.

There is nothing for you to hammer away with, with your rough language of "returns" and "metrics."

Free your mind.

Why would anyone want to follow you?

Would you post pictures of your lifestyle?

Or would you scowl at your computer screen, and type your screeds about metrics. Perhaps you should re-read your Robert Greene, good sir. It seems you have forgotten the chess versus Go dichotomy discussed in the 48th Law.

Play Go with Instagram, not chess.

Do not be so rough and mathematical with Instagram.

Play with her.

Instagram is a female cat.

It loves beasts.

That's why famous people and rich people and influential people make Instagram go boom with likes and followers.

Instagram is not Google. It is not SEO. It is not PPC.

My Instagram is @whealthandpower.

I have 2200+ followers.

I follow six people.

I am just playing with Instagram.

I have only posted seven pictures.

I get an average of 100 - 200 likes.

Play with her, like a little baby kitty cat.

Attract her with your strength and your valor.

Your angry demands for "returns on effort" remind me of an impatient lad, desperately wondering when the girl he is taking out on a date will give him action.

Don't stress the poor girl.

She'll give it to you when you deserve it.

Do not beleaguer her with such crude language as "ROI." To her, that three-letter word may as well be a four-letter word.

I will monetize her in the future, but even to do so makes it sound as though I am pimping her, which would be...

Well, let's not get off-topic.

The point is, I do not wish to pimp Instagram, at least not at this time.

I just want to test it out, take it for a test drive.

You are right in many ways.

Instagram is not Google.

Instagram is Facebook.

You can leverage the algorithm to gain followers and make sales.

Don't underestimate the power of Instagram for she is a wild beast, and as one of her many pimps, I know she can be a great earner IF treated right.

 

[Determined2012]

It would appear that way.

Idk Instagram very well. So anyone have an idea of the actual process for doin so?

I mean do you just throw up images hoping 100,000 people will see it?

I posted about this in another thread recently. I am HAPPY that someone else found this article and posted it. I wanted to see the thoughts of others on the forum about using instagram as a way to get sales.

A lot of people who don't have formal business training or background are doing really well with this, and are making big money using instagram.

This is what I posted in the other thread:


"The social platform that I am most interested in for turning likes into sales is Instagram. There are some Instagram users informally making thousands of dollars ---- they are marketing their products and coupling the products with larger than life cyber personas- most of the persona stems around what people who strive to be in the "popular crowd" want to see. (Bling, fancy vacations, luxury cars, designer clothes, fine dining, buff men/sexy women) all the things slow laners (biggest consumers) are obsessed with.

For the high school / college aged consumers they are spending tons of money on products being sold on Instagram- daily

I'm still shocked that Instagram has not monetized this fact in some manner. The sheer volume of constant Instagram use is staggering- these days almost every page I follow is pushing or is showing you that they are about to start pushing a product...

The marketing genius is that when people shop with you from your Instagram page they then shout YOU out on their page thus giving you more visibility to all of their followers.... You in turn shout them out on your page thus building credibility that you are making sales and can be trusted to shop with.


If anyone is curious or interested to see exactly what I am referring to I can post the names of a few Instagram power sellers and you can see how easy it is for them-

Based on the research I've done on this I know 95% of it is based on the buyer viewing this person as someone who is popular or "in"


Sorry for hi jacking- but I would like to see more talks about this- because Instagram is the new Facebook and Twitter mixed together on crack- and as of now it's 100% free and has no Ads and it rarely crashes... Instagram is a great platform to use to make sales."

ETA: Thank you Rickson for posting this! I tried to bring this topic up a couple different times before, and no one really seemed interested. Being that you are a high speed/ content contributor you have been able to bring eyes to something that I have really wanted to see a discussion about on the forum, when I couldn't- so thank you. Rep+

 

[Tom.V]

I am currently working with my social guy to leverage organic social traffic as much as possible. It is totally possible, just as anything else is. When it comes to marketing though, hit EVERYTHING. Leverage every system until it F*cking breaks. Period.

 

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[100speed]

Is Instagram worth investing a lot of time in?

Anyone have any metrics on returns on effort?

Recently did over 500$ in profit in one day from a single post on a new account for a new business on instagram, thats including me removing the link due to too many sales coming through for me to fullfil. Granted, I know a few tricks of the instagram trade, but its definitely worth investing your time in - my advice is once your around 15k, network like hell - go on ig forums and contact all the big players in the ig world. Once you reach 80k thats when you can really start leveraging instagram and its algorithm.

 

[JasonR]

It looks like they got most of their traction when they were featured on Jersey Shore, or whatever it is.

So, no, this does not like Instagram marketing done right. It's awesome that they were picked up, but let's give credit where credit is due.

Please, someone show me how they have gotten sales, with hard data figures, from Instagram.

For example, any PPC/Facebook guy could show you how he put $1,000 into advertising, and got $3,000 back, etc.

So, can you spend xxx amount of time, and return xxx amount of money on Instagram? If so, show me someone that did it!!

 

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[JasonR]

Arvin the CEO had a few cameos on the show, which may have helped boost the recognition of Shredz once people found out it was Arvin's company

So - you've proven my point.

I just think the thread title and the article conclusion is misleading. Also, this article coincides with the release of Instagram's ad platform. Concidence...? You decide for yourself.

 

[adoredunchin]

Dimarco had a credit card

3 Million...
it has to be his secret twin or a new alias of MJ

 

[nevergiveup]

It would appear that way.

Idk Instagram very well. So anyone have an idea of the actual process for doin so?

I mean do you just throw up images hoping 100,000 people will see it?

I post pics to my instagram weekly... To grow fast, you need to get big instagram accounts to give you a shout out on their page.

 

[bernieshawn]

A case study on Instagram and eCommerce: http://racked.com/archives/2013/07/17/shop-jeens-founder-explains-how-to-get-half-a-million-instagram-followers.php

 

[eqttrdr]

"ten months later and the company itself has 2.7 million social media followers."


????? the company only has 1k likes on facebook... that makes no sense imo

I dont believe this article at all sorry....

just really good PR

his stats dont add up when I researched the company

they only sell their products on their own website and Amazon from what I can see and DEFINITELY not $3mil in sales on amazon

please someone prove me wrong here because sure looks like ALL PR and nothing more


his links on footer to as seen on lead to 404 error pages...LOL

 

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[MattCour]

Arvin is a cool humble dude, definitely down to earth. Met him a few times before out here in Jersey. His hard work has definitely payed off from him constantly putting in 20 hour work days, not only did instagram help make "Shredz" what it is today, but him being best friends with "the situation" from Jersey Shore also helped a bit as well...plus his team eat, sleeps, and breathes this company, and has the same vision for Shredz as he does. They are all very talented and dedicated individuals.

Are you an employee there?

 

[Brander]

When it comes to marketing though, hit EVERYTHING. Leverage every system until it F*cking breaks. Period.

I would only add - focus on 20% that gives you 80% of results.

 

[The Grind]

The fact that people can create businesses in such borderline accidental way makes me wonder how much money someone makes when money - i.e revenue, profit and the bottom line are the aim and focus.

Such power Instagram is.

Wonder how Andrew Carnegie, JP Morgan, and the other titans would have used the tech strategies and tactics that we moderns take for granted.

The curiosities are strong with this one...

 

[TonyStark]

Is Instagram worth investing a lot of time in?

Anyone have any metrics on returns on effort?

It's good to check out JimD's post about his Instagram businesses. Pretty much accounts with a lot of followers (40k or more) have the potential to make more money in advertising products and such.

 

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[ChrisJTurner]

This reflects your linear thinking on the subject.

You're trying to take a hammer to this situation...

But this situation isn't a nail.

There is nothing for you to hammer away with, with your rough language of "returns" and "metrics."

Free your mind.

Why would anyone want to follow you?

Would you post pictures of your lifestyle?

Or would you scowl at your computer screen, and type your screeds about metrics. Perhaps you should re-read your Robert Greene, good sir. It seems you have forgotten the chess versus Go dichotomy discussed in the 48th Law.

Play Go with Instagram, not chess.

Do not be so rough and mathematical with Instagram.

Play with her.

Instagram is a female cat.

It loves beasts.

That's why famous people and rich people and influential people make Instagram go boom with likes and followers.

Instagram is not Google. It is not SEO. It is not PPC.

My Instagram is @whealthandpower.

I have 2200+ followers.

I follow six people.

I am just playing with Instagram.

I have only posted seven pictures.

I get an average of 100 - 200 likes.

Play with her, like a little baby kitty cat.

Attract her with your strength and your valor.

Your angry demands for "returns on effort" remind me of an impatient lad, desperately wondering when the girl he is taking out on a date will give him action.

Don't stress the poor girl.

She'll give it to you when you deserve it.

Do not beleaguer her with such crude language as "ROI." To her, that three-letter word may as well be a four-letter word.

I will monetize her in the future, but even to do so makes it sound as though I am pimping her, which would be...

Well, let's not get off-topic.

The point is, I do not wish to pimp Instagram, at least not at this time.

I just want to test it out, take it for a test drive.

Thank you kind sir, you're a scholar and a gentleman.

 

[TonyStark]

This reflects your linear thinking on the subject.

You're trying to take a hammer to this situation...

But this situation isn't a nail.

There is nothing for you to hammer away with, with your rough language of "returns" and "metrics."

Free your mind.

Why would anyone want to follow you?

Would you post pictures of your lifestyle?

Or would you scowl at your computer screen, and type your screeds about metrics. Perhaps you should re-read your Robert Greene, good sir. It seems you have forgotten the chess versus Go dichotomy discussed in the 48th Law.

Play Go with Instagram, not chess.

Do not be so rough and mathematical with Instagram.

Play with her.

Instagram is a female cat.

It loves beasts.

That's why famous people and rich people and influential people make Instagram go boom with likes and followers.

Instagram is not Google. It is not SEO. It is not PPC.

My Instagram is @whealthandpower.

I have 2200+ followers.

I follow six people.

I am just playing with Instagram.

I have only posted seven pictures.

I get an average of 100 - 200 likes.

Play with her, like a little baby kitty cat.

Attract her with your strength and your valor.

Your angry demands for "returns on effort" remind me of an impatient lad, desperately wondering when the girl he is taking out on a date will give him action.

Don't stress the poor girl.

She'll give it to you when you deserve it.

Do not beleaguer her with such crude language as "ROI." To her, that three-letter word may as well be a four-letter word.

I will monetize her in the future, but even to do so makes it sound as though I am pimping her, which would be...

Well, let's not get off-topic.

The point is, I do not wish to pimp Instagram, at least not at this time.

I just want to test it out, take it for a test drive.

Hahaha that was perfect!!

 

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[Ubermensch]

You are right in many ways.

Instagram is not Google.

Instagram is Facebook.

You can leverage the algorithm to gain followers and make sales.

Don't underestimate the power of Instagram for she is a wild beast, and as one of her many pimps, I know she can be a great earner IF treated right.

Hilarious metaphor.

Point well received.

 

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[BrooklynHustle]

It looks like they got most of their traction when they were featured on Jersey Shore, or whatever it is.

So, no, this does not like Instagram marketing done right. It's awesome that they were picked up, but let's give credit where credit is due.

Please, someone show me how they have gotten sales, with hard data figures, from Instagram.

For example, any PPC/Facebook guy could show you how he put $1,000 into advertising, and got $3,000 back, etc.

So, can you spend xxx amount of time, and return xxx amount of money on Instagram? If so, show me someone that did it!!

Nah, they partnered with a whole bunch of fitness influencers with huge followings (into the millions)

And got them to promote their products & merch as affiliates/brand ambassadors

Channel expansion, as MJ would call it...

 

[Determined2012]

Yes!!!! Instagram is giving anyone who wants it a chance to sell their product!

 

[Vick]

Yes!!!! Instagram is giving anyone who wants it a chance to sell their product!

It would appear that way.

Idk Instagram very well. So anyone have an idea of the actual process for doin so?

I mean do you just throw up images hoping 100,000 people will see it?

 

[benhebert]

At the start of 2012, 27-year-old Arvin Lal was pumping iron with his friend, Michael Dimarco, a chiropractor who mixed his own herbal supplements. The friend gave him a weight loss remedy. "I tried it and I lost 8 pounds in two weeks. I asked him is this legal? If so let's mass produce it," Lal told Business INSIDERS. Lal had a credit card with a $5,000 limit, and Dimarco had a credit card, too, and off they went to bottle the supplement now named Shredz.

​

http://www.businessinsider.com/28-yr-old-built-a-business-on-instagram-2013-10

Thank you for sharing this. As someone who just launched a brand new supplement company this month... I NEEDED TO READ THIS.

 

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[brandonrush]

If anyone is curious or interested to see exactly what I am referring to I can post the names of a few Instagram power sellers and you can see how easy it is for them-

I'm pretty interested in some examples.

 

[rkmalo1]

If anyone is curious or interested to see exactly what I am referring to I can post the names of a few Instagram power sellers and you can see how easy it is for them-

I'm pretty interested as well. Determined - Thanks for the explaining Marketing on Instagram as well!

 

[Vick]

If anyone is curious or interested to see exactly what I am referring to I can post the names of a few Instagram power sellers and you can see how easy it is for them-

yup. post it.

 

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