A few weeks ago I heard several EAv “power users” say that Instragram was a good way to increase one’s EAv dividend. I really didn’t want to spend time on yet another social network, and I’m not a fan of using a network just to boost EAv scores. But I figured it was at least worth the experiment. If nothing else, it would give me something to blog about. 🙂
In the 3 weeks since starting to tinker with it, I found Instagram it to be a lot of fun, a neat way to get to know some EAver’s better, and…
My dividend increased by about 0.20e/share.
And I’m just getting started.
With that kind of success, a series of blog posts about Instagram and how to make the most of it could be a great help for lots of EAvers. After 3 weeks, I’m by no means an expert, but I’ll share what I’ve learned. More importantly, though, I hope to spark the conversations that will serve as a place for lots of EAv Instagram users to share and refine their tips.
Some of the things we’ll talk about is:
- How to get more followers
- How to get more likes/comments
- Strategy concerning what kinds of pics to share
- Strategy concerning when to share pics
- Instagram-related tools
So, let’s kick the series off with 2 simple questions:
- What’s your Instagram username?
- What Instagram-related questions do you want to discuss?
– Paul
(e)PDSTEIN
http://followgram.me/pdstein
Posts in this series:
- Quality vs Quantity
- 5 Ways to Get More Instagram Followers from Empire Avenue
- The Power of Hashtags
- Pros & Cons of Following & Follow Back
- Top 8 Subjects for Instagram Pics
- Filters
- Best Day & Time to Post
- Posting Photos from other Cameras
- Is there any value in non-photo content?
- What’s up with posting pics you didn’t take?
- Interview with Empire Avenue Staff
- 7 Tips for New IG Users
- Steve Bretzke Has Had the Best Strategy All Along
- So Much for That Strategy
Empire Avenue Tips 
Jan 30, 2012 @ 22:02:02
annethomas11
Do you know if there is a way to automatically tag a photo (I often forget to add #eavig ?
Jan 30, 2012 @ 22:11:50
Anne, that’s a great question. I’ll see if I can find out. Maybe someone else here can chime in if they know.
I do know that if you forget, you can go back and add a tag by posting a comment with the tag in it.
Jan 31, 2012 @ 15:29:26
Anne,
As of yet no auto tagging! But since you are using your iPhone to post, create a new “note”, put all the hashtags you often use on it and save it.
Then when you post a pic, you can easily copy your set of hashtags and paste them in your description.
It’s also handy to have a few different notes with different sets of hashtags for different posting purposes!
Jan 31, 2012 @ 18:41:08
anne, I don’t think it is possible. Here’s the closest to that:
You can leave comments (and do other things) via the websites: statigram, webstigram, and ink361.com
Also, via ifttt.com you automate posting elsewhere based on doing certain actions in instragram
New Blog Series: How to Rock Empire Avenue with Instagram (via empireav.wordpress.com ) « Empire Avenue Blog
Jan 30, 2012 @ 22:03:10
Jan 31, 2012 @ 00:38:49
Sounds great Paul! Instagram Profile: Todd Surber @kingstreetstudios
Jan 31, 2012 @ 01:18:48
Hiya,
Whats the #eavig for ?
Jan 31, 2012 @ 01:36:07
Instagram uses hashtags much like Twitter. If Empire Avenue users include the #EAvIG hashtag in the description or comment for pic, then other EAv users can search for that hashtag and find pics posted by their fellow EAvers. (Thanks to Anne for pointing this out. I wasn’t aware of it until her comment)
Jan 31, 2012 @ 15:30:02
I will include this hashtag in my base set! thanks
Jan 31, 2012 @ 04:16:42
I’m aimka at Instagram. My best advice on success there? Be active, give hearts to things you genuinely like, and for crissake, take good photographs.
I’m fairly happy with how I use the site, and agree it has noticeably helped with my divs. My concern is one I’ve seen voice on other EA forums: what to do about people who are dumping tons of photos, not of their own creation, who are then seeding flickr, fb, twitter, and tumblr automatically, thereby driving up their divs for what is ultimately fraudulent content? I have unfollowed people who pollute their stream with junk images.
I don’t know that there’s anything else that can be done, but I do bring it up as a real issue.
Jan 31, 2012 @ 12:56:20
Amie, thanks for your comment. Great advice! I share your concerns about people who are posting copyrighted images. I’m going to make that the topic of one of the blog posts in this series.
Jan 31, 2012 @ 15:33:22
I AGREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For people like me who create those images for a living, it’s frustrating to see them posting them without credit.
As for polluting your stream, my policy is to not automatically post each photo to every feed. I pick and choose based on subject matter and then I end up with a variety that is different in each place.
Instagram is as much a tool, as it is fun!
Check out my feed http://bit.ly/yzoAX9
Jan 31, 2012 @ 04:38:25
I use my iPhone and add the hashtags in the comments with a cut and past from a document I have saved. I must remember to add this one. Good article.
Jan 31, 2012 @ 12:57:12
Tess, what’s your Instagram username?
Jan 31, 2012 @ 12:50:51
I love the concept of instagram and how it can really work. I have some friends to and and lets see how this can get really good! 🙂
Jan 31, 2012 @ 12:57:38
Cool. Raphael, what’s your Instagram username?
Jan 31, 2012 @ 13:21:51
I’m StevenLJohnson on instagram. You can view my profile via the web at: http://statigr.am/stevenljohnson
Please follow me if you haven’t already and I will follow back within a few hours.
Jan 31, 2012 @ 13:23:23
Paul, the biggest question from what you said is: how many photos a day did you start posting to see a big div increase on EAv? Also, what was the lower performing network like that Instagram replaced for you?
Jan 31, 2012 @ 15:13:08
Steven, those are great questions. Posting frequency and quantity vs quality are important Instagram topics I want to cover in this series. The network score is another interesting topic because as you can see from my profile, IG is not yet one of my top 5 networks by network score.
Jan 31, 2012 @ 15:43:04
Interesting. Right now IG is my top network.
Do you send out pics you take on IG to lots of others places, too? Could that be where you get your div boost from?
Jan 31, 2012 @ 15:50:21
I do post all my Instagram pics to Flickr, but my Flickr network score is even lower than IG. Occasionally I also post an Instagram pic to Twitter, but it’s very rare so I don’t think it’s impacting my Twitter score. This raises another good topic to cover in this series – when and why to syndicate IG pics to other networks.
Jan 31, 2012 @ 16:56:31
My policy is to not automatically post each photo to every feed. I pick and choose based on subject matter and then I end up with a variety that is different in each place.
Instagram is as much a tool, as it is fun!
Check out my feed http://bit.ly/yzoAX9
Jan 31, 2012 @ 15:26:30
Hello everyone! My Instagram username is @edward_james
I will be using Instagram to post live from behind the scenes of the fashion shows in NY, London, Milan & Paris!
Please follow and share with your fashion minded friends!
Most recently I won the #marcfam Instagram contest by Marc Jacobs (@marcjacobsintl) & the All Shots (@all_shots) daily Instagram contest on January 27!
My Instagram feed is http://bit.ly/yzoAX9
Jan 31, 2012 @ 20:58:10
I’ve been using IG for ages and have never used a hashtag (a la twitter) –
I just post for a small group of followers and we usually try to add a comment . #eavig is a good idea though – I’ll use it from now on. My IG name is ‘fleurman’ just like EA …. see ya there folks 😉
Jan 31, 2012 @ 22:20:51
Thanks for joining the convo, Fleurman!
Jan 31, 2012 @ 21:04:51
OK – i just followed all the contributors in the above discussion, for starters. See ya in Instagram with my iPhone – be nice pls.
Instragram Issue #1: Quality vs Quantity « Empire Avenue Tips
Jan 31, 2012 @ 23:30:09
Feb 01, 2012 @ 01:57:12
I am davidsanger
http://statigr.am/davidsanger
http://statigr.am/stat/davidsanger
currently post 6 or so a day. network score currently 70
All followers and comments welcome
Instagram Issue #2: 5 Ways to Get More Instagram Followers from Empire Avenue « Empire Avenue Tips
Feb 01, 2012 @ 16:51:52
Instagram #3: The Power of Hashtags « Empire Avenue Tips
Feb 02, 2012 @ 12:40:38
Feb 02, 2012 @ 19:04:40
My instagram user name is unschoolinglife
My question is what settings are best for pictures? There’s to many to choose from – lol
Feb 02, 2012 @ 19:19:40
Hi Joanne, do you mean which filter?
Instagram #4: Pros & Cons of Following & Follow Back « Empire Avenue Tips
Feb 03, 2012 @ 16:22:55
Record Dividends « Empire Avenue Tips
Feb 04, 2012 @ 20:08:41
Instagram #5: Top 8 Subjects for Instagram Pics « Empire Avenue Tips
Feb 07, 2012 @ 12:21:40
Instagram #6: Filters « Empire Avenue Tips
Feb 13, 2012 @ 17:12:13
Instagram #7: Best Day & Time to Post « Empire Avenue Tips
Feb 15, 2012 @ 16:59:06
Instagram #8: Posting Photos from other Cameras « Empire Avenue Tips
Feb 17, 2012 @ 17:01:38
Feb 18, 2012 @ 03:16:56
Thanks for the article Paul! …and also the #EavIG tip.
Great conversation.
I’m vanwouw on Instagram
Feb 18, 2012 @ 08:04:36
Thanks Neil! Following.
Instagram #9: Is there any value in non-photo content? « Empire Avenue Tips
Feb 22, 2012 @ 22:08:48
Instagram #10: What’s up with posting pics you didn’t take? « Empire Avenue Tips
Mar 05, 2012 @ 17:29:19
Apr 24, 2012 @ 15:51:37
Great stuff here!
I’m @eitanshavit
I’ve been using instagram for quite a while just for the nice effects and to upload to my facebook page.
But now I’m more into it, and want to get to the popular page (yeah right) 🙂
Been using statigram for mass hashing, and the results are nice…
Still haven’t figured how to delete a photo from a web app, but there might be no option for that right now…
What I like about this community, is that there are many photographers that actually show you how to use the iPhone to shoot and edit.
A good example is @giariv . What an amazing feed.
Thanks for all the info! See you in your feeds 🙂
Apr 24, 2012 @ 16:10:15
Great stuff here!
I’m @eitanshavit
I’ve been using instagram for quite a while just for the nice effects and to upload to my facebook page.
But now I’m more into it, and want to get to the popular page (yeah right) 🙂
Been using statigram for mass hashing, and the results are nice…
Still haven’t figured how to delete a photo from a web app, but there might be no option for that right now…
What I like about this community, is that there are many photographers that actually show you how to use the iPhone to shoot and edit.
A good example is @giariv . What an amazing feed.
Thanks for all the info! See you in your feeds 🙂
Jun 17, 2012 @ 16:32:13
I have 20,000 followers on Inst and find it works well I joined EA two weeks ago and have a 170 share price so I guess it works
Jun 17, 2012 @ 16:51:11
You’re rockin Instagram and Empire Avenue, Justin! Keep up the good work!
Jun 22, 2012 @ 12:12:31
kingsonal on Instagram
http://statigr.am/kingsonal
Thanks for the post Paul. I wasnt aware of quiet a few things wrt instagram till I went through the discussion.!! You Rock!
Jun 26, 2012 @ 02:48:25
@valmayuk . Thanks for the post. I’ve just started using instagram and look forward to reading all your tips and advice.
Jun 26, 2012 @ 05:55:02
Excellent Valmay. I’ll follow you there as soon as Statigr.am comes back up.
Jul 03, 2012 @ 07:14:49
I’m yakobusan on Instagram. Thanks for your work, Paul. Can’t wait to hear the secret! 😀
Aug 02, 2012 @ 00:02:46
Can’t wait to read through all these posts! I am on insta @jaclynanned
Aug 10, 2012 @ 20:06:41
Reblogged this on shadowvigil.
Aug 11, 2012 @ 11:37:41
I dont understand the Instagram score at all lol 😦
Aug 11, 2012 @ 12:33:05
What do you mean?
Aug 11, 2012 @ 13:36:39
Well, let me explain. I joined instagram 2 months ago and made the connection with EA. I had over 5000 followers and 100 likes on most photos and I waited like a month and my instagram score on EA was still at 1. I gave up on it and recently joined with a new account to see if it was a bug or something.
Aug 26, 2012 @ 06:12:22
Hello! I have pinned this page because it’s such an interesting discussion. I was researching the eavig hashtag and found this. Instagram username is @iamstylefile –I’ve been on it a bit more than a month and still don’t know how to increase followers. I just post the best pictures I can and hope people follow me from there.
Dec 03, 2012 @ 08:30:01
Really great advice here. I learned a lot. I followed a few of you.
http://statigr.am/eliotpearson
12 Tips to Getting a Phenomenal Start on Empire Avenue « Empire Avenue Tips
Dec 11, 2012 @ 23:20:15
Jan 18, 2013 @ 19:48:27
Useful info, also, if I may add.. Avoid checking on your stocks every day.
Making wise stock market investments not only requires company research, it also requires you to maintain a good
degree of emotional distance. By nature, the stock market moves up and down.
If you let yourself get caught up in every
rise and fall, you will soon become emotionally exhausted.
Additionally, investing for the long run will bring more rewards
than short-term strategies or day trading, unless you are a very experienced stock trader.
Mar 22, 2013 @ 05:30:29
Reblogged this on charlieslang.
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