February 24, 2022
Who’s done letting the Instagram algorithm be their excuse for why they aren’t growing?
We know we are and so is Nathan Chanski! We are chatting with Nate on the podcast today ALL on the topic of how he grew from 1k to 16k+ followers in less than a year.
We dive into the topic of Instagram growth with Nate and what he did to see such growth within a year.
Nate shares where he was mentally with his business and Instagram a year ago.
What he was doing on the app (or rather…not doing…)
Nate’s story is SO powerful and relatable to a LOT of creative business owners and we know you’re going to get SO much out of hearing his story. He then gives us a TRUCKLOAD of tangible tips and strategies he uses on the gram every day that helped him grow so drastically.
Sparknotes: Reels were a big one, so if you’re wanting help with Reels, Nate’s got you. He ends the chat by giving such a powerful takeaway and message that reaches beyond just Instagram and business and applies to ALL of life. And hint: he won Lindsey’s heart cause he used a Taylor Swift analogy.
If you don’t know who Nate is, he is a Wedding Photographer and Photography Educator based in West Michigan. He has photographed weddings and couples, full-time for the past 3 years, and within the past year has taken his knowledge and experience to the photography education space. His passion will always be glorifying God, and empowering others to create the life and business of their full potential.
If you hear that Nate jumped this huge following in a six to eight-month time, it’s just not true, because that is not the whole picture. He started his Instagram account three years ago and for most of those three years, he was at 1k to 1.5k followers. All of that, all the bumps and bruises and learning along the way, that is what led him to something that worked finally and then hit his stride. Once all the things he learned started clicking, that is when the growth happened.
If you go back to 2017 Instagram it was very ascetic, beautiful, put your best face forward. Or put this persona of yourself that wasn’t you at all, put that out and keep the real you behind closed doors. Nate fell into that. It was easier for him to have this guarded persona of himself that he put out to all his followers. It was about a year ago that he decided not to do this anymore.
Then this video boom happened after the pandemic. Instead of ascetic that everyone was hungry for. People were hungry for actual humanity, transparency, seeing a real human on the other side. During that time Nate watched different people being themselves and not caring.
In April of 2021, Nate had so many different ways he could take this. He was not involving the Lord in his professional life, or giving Him the reins of his business. Once he started doing that he got more clarity.
Ask yourself: what is the thing that lights you up? What is the thing you would have to pry your hands off of even if you weren’t paid?
Reels definitely played a huge part. That was a catapult for the next level.
Nate might not have had the growth that he had if he ONLY used reels or even 80%. There are so many things that play a key role in his growth. Such as your storys, your longer formate captions, and then sharing his work as a photographer. It’s a web of different things, reels were probably the most important thing. You have to have those other things in place as well, or you might get followers but not be developing a relationship.
Cover Photo of Reels:
Less about algorithm and more on how you would perceive someone approaching your account. You want someone to have an impression of you when they first come to your feed, first exposed to your page. They will have certain things in place. If you are in your feed you want your feed to be ascetic and the reason Nate does that is that he is a photographer. As someone in a creative field, you want that ascetic and that immediate visual representation of your feed. That is not recommended by every industry.
There are certain reel covers in Nate’s primary feed that he has made into ascetic reel covers. In his reels panel, he wants them to see his face and goofy side. Nate will post to both feeds. When he first posts a reel he will leave it in his primary feed for the first 12 hours, then after that, he will probably get rid of it and put it in his reel feed.
When you look at reels versus static images, never stop posting static images. Nate’s inquires have gone up significantly, he attributes his booking to more sales. His inquires and quality of inquiries have gone up. People are much more queued in on who he is as a person. It has increased those things. You can integrate videos way past reels and can do so much good for your business. Think about adding videos to your website for your clients to get to know you even better there as well.
The Heart Conference: www.theheartuniversity.com/conference
Connect with others before the conference to plan lodging, transportation and create relationships before in our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/170106201881803/
Content Photo Minor: https://theheartuniversity.com/content-minor
Follow along with Nate:
www.instagram.com/nathanchanski
https://www.tiktok.com/@nathanchanski
If you want to connect with us and other listeners in the Heart and Hustle community join our Facebook group here.
Follow along:
www.instagram.com/mrslindseyroman
www.instagram.com/theheartuniversity
WASSUP FRIENDS. We’re Evie + Lindsey, co-founders of this wild partayyy called The Heart University. Our goal is to empower entrepreneurs to kick freaking BUTT in their businesses, dive down into the heart of their why and how, and serve you with all possible tools you’ll need to up-level your business game and CRUSH those goals of yours.
Whether you’re coming to an in-person workshop, joining our online course, or soaking up all the strategies via this blog or our podcast, we’re STOKED you’re here + can’t wait to see you out there kicking butt.
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