AS i've mentioned before, back when I started my business Instagram was my biggest fear. Terrified and I so badly didn't want to use it but I knew that was totally out of the question. TOTALLY. With over 500 million active users I would have to be to stupidest person alive if I didn't. 

When I started I didn't know the first thing to Insta. I would lose at least 30 mins in the morning and another 30 mins at night trying to find the right picture that fit the bill and then trying to write the right words that were funny and quirky. Not to mention the hours I would lose in between just thinking about what my next post would be. I ate breakfast standing up coffee in one hand phone in the other, I would burn dinner, I didn't watch Honor in the bath 100%, you couldn't have conversation with me at these times. Andy quite frankly go the shits with me as I was totally in grossed in this thing I didn't EVEN understand! 

So, with everything I come across that I don't know or don't understand, I studied Instagram like crazy. The in's and out's the do's and don't's until I became (sort-of) a pro. I hired a stylist and I spend a lot of time getting my head around this incredibly massive thing that essentially I couldn't even touch but was my life blood to my business.

In my last post I told you how to create a good looking account and that's all well and good but if you can't manage it or keep it consistent then it's never going to be a great account, right? 

Just like babies - we also need consistency and routine. Babies need to know their food and naps are coming and we need to know our husbands will be home for dinner and our pay checks paid into our bank accounts. 

People feel the same about their favourite brands. We need to know they'll be there..  consistently through our day or weeks, we love to see their branding evolve BUT only if it remains similar to what we already know and we like to be sure we will be greeted with their new products on a timely basis. 

Which brings me to Instagram. Insta demands consistently more than anything BUT how the hell do you create such an account when our lives behind it are EVERYTHING but consistent?

Here's how and thank me later: 

1. Take all the information from my last post and gather all your wonderful photos and put them into a folder called "For Instagram" on your desktop. 
TOP TIP: Create another folder called "On Instagram" I'll explain later. 

2. Jump online and buy yourself "Instagram Scheduling" software. There are tons of these but most of you don't even know they exist! These types of software allow you to schedule all your posts in perfect order and in perfect timing so to reach all your beloved followers consistently EVERY DAY!! This type of software will set you back about $10 a month and I promise you it will be the best $10 you'll spend. PROMISE.

I use 'ONLYPULT'. Funny name, right? It costs me $10 a month, I can schedule infinitely, I can manage up to 3 different Instagram accounts and my favourite thing about it is I can see how the account WILL look once they are all posted live. I LOVE this feature as I'm especially picky with the flow and balance of the feed so to see this before it gets posted is essential to me.

TOP TIPS: Don't waste your time with the free ones - they'll always be something missing and make sure you can automatically post to Facebook at the same time. This kills two bird with one stone and gives us more time to do other stuff!! Bloody Hell Yeah!!

3. Allocate a specific time every week or every fortnight (whatever works for you) and schedule the shit out of your account! I go hard for about 2 hours which usually gets me over 2 weeks worth of posts. I open up the folder "For Instagram" and chose my photos and once I've used it I then move it over to the "On Instagram" folder then I know which ones i've use and it saves so much confusion later on! 
TOP TIP: Allocate your time and set an alarm. The whole point of scheduling is that you have more time. So set it for 2 hours and once it's done it's done. Move on and get you business moving onto bigger things. 

4. TIMING. 6am and 6pm are the optimum times to post. The math behind is nuts but imagine, your followers wake up and generally no more than 20 minutes will pass before they check their Insta account and if they are following 1000 accounts you should be just making their feed right... on ... TIME for them to see you! Same with the 6pm post as well... think: people finishing work... /driving/getting home/public transport by the time they open up their account BAM your post should be in their feed!
TOP TIP: Posting at any other times is said to be a waste of a post. You'll just get lost. 

4. COMMENTS. Ok - this was my biggest struggle. I felt like a liar! I was writing comments two weeks in advance... my followers will hate me! And my worry? You didn't hate me nor did you even notice. Besides - If said to you "I'm now going to schedule my posts so I can reach you at the right time everyday which will also give me time to spend with my family ... would you still hate me? Hell no. I bet you would love and respect me more. I believe people love people who put their family first more.
TOP TIP: Write your comments in future tense. Is that a word? Anyway, get creative - you know you, you know what you would write so this should be easy... just pretend and its kinda fun! 

5. SIT BACK AND HAVE A LIFE! Hang out with the babes, enjoy uninterrupted time with your loved ones, throw a dinner party, cook dinner without burning it, watch telly in peace, have a lovely meal being present, call a new stockist, create another product or do something that makes your business better. Gosh the options are endless when you potentially free up 10 hours of your week, right?  

Ok - good. Now go have a life my lovelies. xx