It’s Time to Pass The Prosecco

Hello Friends

It is time to fill you in on the details to the past couple of episodes of Pass the Prosecco. 

As some of you may know, Pass the Prosecco is a fashion and tends podcast where I also share advice with some tips and tricks to influencing.  

It’s a complex space out there and some of you are looking for ways to play the Instagram game. So, without further Ado, here are the important key point to each episode.      

Episode 4: Influencing on Instagram Game (I took down this Episode because I went into chasing clout and I need to refine this talking point). You can read more about Influencing on IG down below.

Instagram should be about building relationships and making connections.  Celebrities can post on Instagram and log off, but average people like you and me need to post and engage to gain feedback and make connections.  If you are determined to grow there are a few strategies that you can try  

One: Send Likes and comments to other people for 20 mins before you post and 20 mins after you post.  Usually, people want to support you back and when they do, it will help boost your engagement.

Two:  Go through your hashtags and find the most recent post, then you want to like & comment on them.  

Three: They say to go back through your comments & likes and show the same love to the people who supported you.  This helps build relationships. I like knowing and being involved with people who have the same interest.  If they haven’t posted anything new, maybe jump into their stories or shoot them a DM.  You should also do this for people who show up on your page that you do not have the same niche and people who are not influencers.  

Four:  A friend of mine once told me to build a book of Instagram handles that you like to follow, or people you are trying to build connections with.  Write their IG handle down, go through it once a day and make sure you have connected with each of them at least once.  And start building on that list as time goes on.  

It can be hard to stay connected with everyone all the time.  I sometimes realize that I forgot about someone and that I haven’t engaged with them in months.  I do notice a lot of girls that I follow, their handles show up on other’s Instagram posts.  So, I am certain this works.  

What I Don’t Recommend  

I hit 10K back in October of 2019.  I made a lot of connections and friends on Instagram.

However, I was doing far too many loop giveaways.  I used to do them once a month and during the holiday season, 2-3 times a month.  I started doing this back in 2016, up until I lost my account.  

There isn’t anything wrong with doing loop giveaways but It can bring you bots. My problem was that I had too many followers who did not engage with my content.  This was embarrassing.    

In September of 2020, I lost my account, I saw this as an opportunity to start all over and grow more organically.  My last post was for my graduation, achieving my Masters of Science degree.  I got locked out of my account for a few days and I waited two days to get back in.  Everything was good for one week and the day before we went to Florida, I was locked out permanently.  I tried reaching out to Instagram, there was no way to recover everything I lost.  @cutebrandik was wiped out completely.  I tried logging on and it said the account did not exist under the email I used.  My dog, Bug had an Instagram so I logged into Bug’s old account and started Instagramming there

Losing my old account showed me that I cannot rely on Instagram.  It showed me how true my followers were.  Now I value organic growth and authentic connections.  

Episode 6: Instagram Reels & Going Live

The word on the street is that Instagram is paying for content such as Live Streams and Reels because IG wants you to use their features.  I had a friend tell me and I heard the same thing on this YouTube right here!!

So, I went live!!  All of it is saved on my IGTV so go check it out!!!  It was a little nerve- wrecking.   Some people show up but not a lot. I decided to work through my nerves and do it during the day on Friday so that I can get a sense of what it feels like to go live.  I did a shop with me/ ask me anything live stream.  The things with Live Steaming, if you messed up, there was no going back.  I think this will be a fun interactive pivot from the things I already do so I will be doing more.  

Reels!

My first one was earlier this year.  I posted a video I took back in 2019 where I used to do a walk-by and I would post these videos with my outfit photo.  This way you get both the shot and a video of the outfit.  This was before reels & TikTok!  My first reel received 346 plays.  I started doing some outfit Reels. I know so many girls who do this every well, they understand how to do transitions.  My first three Outfit Reels did not break 500 but then I went to Universal Studios.  I love creating content there at Universal and I broke 2000 plays.  I received 3000 with my 4th of July outfits, 4000 with my How-to spooky treat video.  My most recent was about a cool BBQ joint and it got 3000 plays.  

Reels has been the secret to growth for 2021 however, It has to be trending topics.  It also helps to create reels that are helpful to the audience.  I heard that it is also important to use trending sounds!!!  I was watching a YouTube about IG Reels by this girl named Modern Millie.  She states that trending Audio sounds is important to IG reels if you are trying to grow.  

Goals

I am trying to create one reel every week, and I want to do a Live Stream once a weekend.  The holidays are here so I think there is plenty to show!!  

Thank you for hanging out with me!  Be sure to check out both episodes of my podcast, please rate and review!!! I will be providing links down below to my Glass of Inspo.  

Until next time, Cheers!!

XoXo 

-Brandi Kimberly