I talked about this in the last blog, but this blog I’m going to tell you the secret to building an absolutely massive following on Instagram and online. Instagram growth hacking is not hard, but it is something that most people are just not willing to do.
You see – when it comes to growth hacking – everyone is looking for a hack to shortcut their way to the top. Every that is a growth hacker is looking for that easy way to live in Bali or and surf their day away. Yes, I know that sounds awesome and it is, but that person didn’t get there by hacking their way to the top.
They created something that is so amazing that they reduced the steps to greatness by providing something so valuable that no one could ignore it.
That is the problem with most growth hackers. Their content is weak and everyone can afford to ignore it. That’s why they get mediocre, at best, results and fizzle out super fast.
This is the guide to the top… Buckle up and if you’re not the kind of person to take massive action, then don’t read anymore. Bye.
For those of us that aren’t afraid of a ton of work, let’s begin…
Write a book. I don’t just mean any book. Write an awesome B2B book that goes well beyond what you know. Your a B2B Instagram growth hacker, right? Give your best secrets away for free. Don’t worry. There is a great reason for this.
This book should be everything you know, plus the kitchen sink. It has to be because a crappy book is worthless.
Make it as long as possible, but try to keep it over 30,000 words. If you think that is daunting, consider this…
30,000 words is 1,000 words a day for a month. 500 words a day for 2 months, and 300 words a day for 100 days. Which one of those do you think you can do?
I wrote a book in 30 days using the 1,000 words a day method. It’s actually not that bad and if you can’t handle it then write 500 a day and see how that goes.
What you’re trying to do is just focus on getting everything in your head on into your computer. Just write and write and write until it’s done.
Put everything into this and make sure that it has your uniqueness inside of it. Do you know why people love to read? Yes, they love to learn, but they love to be entertained with stories that enhance their perspective on life.
Go now and don’t stop until it’s done.
What about publishing, cover design, and what not?
Well, you can self-publish it, get it edited, and use Createspace to get it on Amazon or you can do a really cheap and free thing. This is up to you. It’s way better to have a hard copy, so save up the money and get a real book made. All in, with licensing from Bowker, Createspace, an editor (found on Upwork), and a cover designer (also found on Upwork), it cost me about $700.
$700 and I have a book forever to do whatever the hell I want to do with it. I can sell it for $100 a copy or give it away for free and just have people pay for the shipping. The choice is all mine.
You’ve written this book, now what?
Now, it’s time to create your profiles and website. Everything is centered around this amazing piece of content you’ve written and now you truly market yourself as an Instagram growth hacking expert.
Here’s what you do, while you’re creating posts on Canva (a free graphic designer) you should make your website. Use WordPress and any theme you like. You don’t need a fancy website. Just make sure it’s clean and has amazing copywriting. It should be geared towards people ordering that book and collecting their contact information.
What you’ve done with the creation of your book is create THE ULTIMATE LEAD MAGNET.
Let’s say you sell an online class to growth hacking on Instagram. Use the book as a “free gift” and get their email and first name. Then sell them on a growth hacking class that is fully automated by Thinkific.
The ultimate sales funnel
Most people when they make a sales funnel, make a crappy ebook that doesn’t really tell you much. Their lead magnet is basically fluff and won’t help you much if you read it. It’s basically a cool looking ebook that is meant to grab your attention and then get your email so they can spam you until you buy or unsubscribe.
Since you didn’t create a crappy lead magnet you’re already way ahead of your competition. You can now aggressively encourage your clients to purchase your courses or use your Instagram growth hacking service.
You basically have an awesome business.
Let me show you the sales funnel in a different way.
Attract leads with the book — Collect their emails and mobile numbers — Email them everyday with helpful tips and tricks and sell them your online video course (using free Thinkific) — Those that don’t want the course but want your help will schedule an appointment with you (use Calendly to screen them and schedule them) — Those that you want to work with you can and the others you can coach or refer them to your online courses.
OMG an awesome business in a box.
Pricing appropriately
Considering you’re an author, you can use your book to set your prices much higher than normal.
Let’s say you do the “free + shipping” model. What should you price your online course at?
I’d say $197 for once again an amazing course. Remember, free books go a long way and create tons of amazing leads.
For your coaching services, you could charge $297-$797 per hour for a coaching service. This is will teach someone specifically how to grow their account one hour at a time.
For your service of done-for-you growth Instagram growth hacking, you could set that at $2997 a month per account. That means you take over account grow the hell out of it.
Whatever you make your prices, you have to consider the value your customers are getting? Considering you chose to be an Instagram growth hacker, you know that growing an Instagram following is something that can make a company millions upon millions of dollars. Never short change your talents, and remember you’re giving way more than your competition.
Common pitfalls to stop this from happening
Other people will tell you all kinds of things, like don’t give away that book. You should sell it for what its worth.
That’s your mom telling you to value what you do.
Remember, the book is the tool that allows you to charge a premium for everything else. Without it, you’ll have to work harder to achieve the authority you could have had.
“I can’t give away my best strategies, right?” You can and you will. YOUR GOAL IS TO HELP PEOPLE GET RESULTS FROM EVERYTHING YOU CREATE. Never give people fluff. The second you break the chain of being awesome is when you lose everything, so focus on being of service and give away as much as you can stand then charge a premium for your personal service.
The key being able to automate as much as possible. Give that stuff away for free or cheaply, then charge a premium for things that take the most time, like coaching and individual clients.
How to market a book?
The best way to market that book is with Instagram video ads, live streams, posts, stories, and much more. Everything you do should be boosted and geared towards getting that book in front of as many people as possible.
Don’t be shy about it. Tell everyone from your mom to perfect strangers.
The ads are the key to really moving this brand to the top of the mountain. Every time your ad shows up you should get a new crop of followers and leads to email. That email list is the key to your business. Stay in touch with basic emails (no, need for pictures) that tell stories and help with growth hacking (yes, keep it relevant).
This is one of the cheapest and most efficient ways to get massive growth for any brand
It all starts with amazing free stuff, and consistently more amazing content with every level that increases. Try this with any brand and realize the advantages of starting with a book.
Every company that gets on Instagram is looking for growth hacking aficionados, because, thankfully it’s not that easy. If it were that easy, then you wouldn’t be able to be a growth hacker and everybody would have 10 million followers. What would be the fun in that?
Give this strategy a lot of thought before you do this, many of those steps will take weeks and months in some cases.
For more information on growing a brand on Instagram, check out the Digital Cartel Media blog for more of the best strategies for growing online.
