From 16k to 24K in 7 months, how to gain new followers like I did

While I hate focusing on gaining followers, I recognize that if this is a business then growing is part of making money. Recently I was in the shower and realized I grew nearly 7000 followers since early April and this is how it happened. So…. how to gain new followers in 3, 2, 1…

How to gain new followers: Baby and Racism

This one super sucks to say but it’s all about authenticity and transparency here. Becoming a mother and the push to amplify melanated voices is a major reason. There was a solid month where I grew my following by nearly 1500. Every non-Black person was looking for Black and Brown bloggers to follow to show they were down with the cause or simply because they wanted to diversify and liked my page. Either way, this was a huge factor. So I capitalized on it by doing the things you will read about a little further down. Luck is one thing but work is another!

Also, brands wanted to start using more Black and Brown bloggers in order to not face backlash so they started looking more at us.

The second was becoming a mother and adding more family and baby content. Before having Teagan I was receiving maybe 2 campaign opportunities a month and that would be a great month. Now I average 10 a month and accept maybe 3. I am still VERY picky at who I work with because no matter how much I want to make money, my blog is my baby and I am not going to poison my baby by aligning with something I don’t believe in. Recently a brand that I created content for wanted me to change something in a past post. It would not have been authentic and it would not have been the truth so I adamantly said no. They decided to pass up on me even though they loved what I created for them. That’s ok. Because at the end of the day, Jen has to be happy with Jen!

Money does not rule me.

I would love more fashion partnerships. Style and fashion are still my go-to but for now, I love sharing with other new moms and well, vet moms!

Number 2: Letting Loose

I started having oh so much fun creating content and this translates. Now I do not worry as much about the metrics of a post and instead, ask myself, did I give it my all. Did I make creator Jen proud? If so, then it is a success no matter if it’s liked by the masses.

TikTok played a huge role in my having more fun and letting loose. On that platform, I’m a total goof and just go with the flow. If I feel like being a faux comedian, then I do that. If I want to attempt to dance, then yup, I do that. Letting loose was a huge contributor to how I gained 1000 new followers every month. You can see my videos from there HERE by the way.

But don’t be goofy to appear goofy and brand it as authentic. Cause we can see the difference. Just show us YOU!

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How to gain new followers: Consistent Posting

This is something everyone typically preaches but no one really does. Consistency really is king ESPECIALLY during this pandemic where social media is the number 1 way some folks can keep a connection to others.

I started posting daily and sometimes twice a day on instagram and at least once a week on my blog. Before pregnancy I was probably posting 3 times a week on instagram and like once a month if that on the blog. My photos were also pretty forced. So another way I gained 1000 new followers every month for the last 7 months was by consistently offering content or showing my face on the innanets.

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Outfit Details

Actual Hat | Jeans |

Number 4: Shopping + Linking

This one is a major DUH in the blogging world for making money but for me it also is how I gained 1000 new followers every month for the last 7 months. I started spending a little money (like $100 a month) to purchase a few new items that I could style and link to on instagram.

Before, I was just re-wearing old items that were no longer available and then because the exact item was not available, I would not link it. It seemed like too much work to find similar options. Yes, lazy! But this really helped me grow because others wanted to visit my blog and Instagram to see what new item they could purchase and how to style it.

How to gain new followers: Sharing Tips

For the longest time (nearly 10 years), I rarely shared tips and tricks I learned because I figured people already knew. But lo and behold, I started learning the most basic of tips and tricks from others and realized I was missing out on sharing. I LOVE to help. Giving and sharing is really important to me and the way I feel good about myself.

So sharing how to edit photos or how to produce a type of cool content like something I put out is number 5th reason of how I gained 1000 new followers every month for the last 7 months.

I don’t think yall know how many times I have stopped what I was doing to send someone a screen record on how to exactly do what I created. It is an honor for me and I’m grateful to all of you.

So if your goal is to grow, which of these tips speaks the most to you and will you incorporate?