Recently I have had a few emails and enquiries asking for advice on how to create a style and brand to grow a following on Instagram to be used as a business. My Instagram feed started years ago, originally as a way to stick a Valencia filter over a picture and them to use it for Facebook. When my first baby arrived I began to post more and really enjoyed the beautiful pictures I found on other inspiring accounts. I started to use my Instagram more and more when pregnant with my second baby to use it as a daily diary as I knew that keeping a baby book with 2 under 2 would be a challenge. Speaking of challenges I knew that 2 little ones would be hard work, I class myself as a pretty positive person and can see that the glass is half full in most situations so naturally I found myself capturing 'the beautiful in everyday'.

My Instagram feed was never created with a business in mind but I have been very lucky to have been able to grow it in that way and have had the privilege to have worked with some great companies and also some small businesses that's doing exactly what we all are doing and trying to provide for our little ones.

From this here are 5 tips I would give to anyone that wants to create an Instagram page for business or to grow a following.

• First impressions

like it or not you only have seconds to capture your audience and whenever a person clicks on your Instagram page it's the first 9 pictures that they see that will usually make them decide if they want to follow you or not. Having a theme with similar colours and style makes your pictures asthesically pleasing and majority of the time this is what captured your audience and then they can get to know you.

Your profile where you can write a few lines is the perfect place to describe a little of what the person should expect from your profile... Mine mentions that I am a working mum and I like fashion and interiors so when they see lots of pictures of my girls and home they shouldn't be surprised. If you have a blog or a business this is the perfect place to link it.

I don't use filters as such as personally my style is light and airy and many of them add a yellowy tone. I have been asked many times how I edit my photos and I just increase the brightness and contrast a little to enhance the photos natural beauty. Sometimes I will edit the pictures through snapseed and again I don't use the filters I increase the brightness, contrast and saturation to even out the brightness. It's not that I don't like filters, you can't really beat adding Valencia over a picture however it's good then to stick to a specific one if you want your pictures to compliment each other.

Brand

Think of who you would like to attract and potential companies, normally your brand ideally will compliment theirs.

Don't get involved in drama - no matter how your account is, or what it is about you will face critisism and the more successful your account is the higher chance you have of being faced with it. Unfortunately I think it comes with the territory. Unless it is constructive, don't rise to it and don't start tit for tat posts on your Instagram. No one really wants to see negative posts or be caught up in petty dramas (remember most people lift their phone and have a scroll when they are relaxing) and it certainly isn't attractive to brands.

Be genuine

There are so many fabulous accounts out there and sticking to one niche doesn't mean you don't like another but do what is natural for you and have the writing style to reflect that. Some of my favourite instagrammers are quite potty mouthed in their writing, I have a good giggle everytime I read them but it wouldn't be my style and if I started copy and do the same it wouldn't go very well with pictures of little babies, never mind be unattractive to potential baby brands.

Connect

This is one that recently I haven't been great at. Instagram is a community and when you have your profile set to public and begin using hashtags you are inviting others to see your posts and connect with similar interests. As much as possible it's nice to reply to people's comments and questions, it's a little give and take and a great way to build followers as when they comment on your posts Instagram will suggest your page to their followers.

Hashtags

Another thing I am not great at as I normally use them to add a little more information to what's going on (normally a bit tongue in cheek) but to use hashtags in order to attract people of similar interests, this makes your Instagram images more discoverable for those who don't already follow you. You can hashtag relevant information regarding to the photo for example what it is, where it is, what people are wearing (there is a high chance someone may ask). For example

These tips are very brief and I am sure the Internet is full of great tips but remember that it is your account and if it's not solely for business then document the things that mean most to you, things that you can look back on in 5 years and enjoy reading and don't overthink any of it. I hope these help!

Anna xx