Less is more

August 24, 2018 in Social media

Why do I like Instagram?

This is the question I asked myself yesterday again and again. The answer: Via Instagram I feel connected with the yoga community. There are yoginis who create challenges that last for 10 days till a month. Yoginis shall post a different asana every day. These pictures are published with a hashtag. This allows to see all the pictures of asanas from yoginis who do this challenge. This is really much fun. A lot of communication is going on. These challenges allow to connect with other yoginis worldwide. Some post pictures, others videos. The variety amazes me. I practice yoga at home these days. Via Instagram I feel connected to the international yoga community. I don't want to miss this.

I also love the vegan people on Instagram. I subscribed to many accounts and enjoy to see the delicious food the cooks prepare. One can find a lot of creative people in the kitchen these days. Yet one cannot do more than liking the pictures. One can also comment, but that's it.

I'll keep my Instagram account and I'll use it actively. The party is on Instagram these days. It's the first page that I check in the morning after having checked my Emails.

My steps to improve my Instagram account were:

1. I deleted all the remaining food pictures and landscape pictures. I also found a lonesome flower, a beautiful one. It looked lost between all these yoga pictures. What does this flower here, I wondered?

2. Instagram loves the square format. For aesthetic reasons I deleted all the pictures that cut body parts because I had used a landscape format. Who clicks on the picture to see it fully? To make things easy is the goal. When going through my account the main subject in the picture should be seen fully without clicking on the picture.

3. I deleted a lot of pictures that were too lousy.

5. The profile picture is now a yoga pose too. At first sight one can realize that this account is on yoga.

6. I changed the text. I didn't mention anymore that I'm a photographer. The pictures that I publish on Instagram have not so much to do with my photography activities. They show my yoga skills not my skills as a photographer.

It's recommended to publish every day at least one picture. I always thinK: quality over quantity.

I'm looking forward to the next yoga challenge that starts in September.

Feed back on my Instagram account is wellcomed.

First step: delete

August 22, 2018 in Social media

1. It seems to be common sense: People who follow an account want to get a clear message. It's highly recommended to post pictures of yoga or travel or portraits or food. But everything in one account is too confusing for the subscribers. Yesterday I decided that my Instagram account is dedicated to my yoga practice. The rest had to go.

I can organize and publish my travel pictures on flickr. The albums that one can create on flickr are a very useful tool. Who is interested in my trips anyway.

My first Instagram account is now my yoga picture account. It won't substitute www.my-yoga-blog.blogspot.com.

Many many pictures had to go yesterday. Not every shot was a master piece. Especially in the beginning I had to find a purpose for this account. I learned how to use my phone as a camera.

There are still some food pictures and pictures with other contents on that Instagram page, but not much and only 3 in a row. The eye needs a break from time to time. Me too, I don't practice on Saturdays usually, I need a break from time to time. To have an endless line of yoga pictures can be tiring. The breaks are so necessary. Yet if someone stumbles over my Instagram account it's clear now: here posts a passionate yogini, someone who thinks 99% in her life about asanas......lol.

2. In addition I upgraded my account to a business account. The advantage: Instagram delivers insights on the traffic on that page i.e..

3. I also added some more hashtags to some of the pictures. I used to be too lazy in the past. Yet hashtags are such a huge topic, it deserves an extra post.

Result:

Subscribers yesterday: 227

Subscribers today: 234 (that is plus 9 - olala)

Instagram

August 21, 2018 in Social media

The party is on Instagram these days.

Last week I realized that a photographer with 61.000 followers on flickr deleted this account there, yet the Instagram account is updated and lively. The photography community and all other communities moved.

From time to time I reflect on how I spend my time and what I do online. Because everybody with 2 legs is on Instagram, it's most interesting there. Oh, not only creature with 2 legs are on Instagram and present themselves there, some have 4 legs. I think of Choupette Lagerfeld. It's entertaining to see all the pictures. Some famous social media sites became lost places.

In the meantime books are on the market how to use Instagram. There is always something new to learn. By now I publish pictures. Many publish videos already, which is very nice, too. Downtime doesn't exist.

When I started with Instagram I was told that one can publish only pictures taken by a phone. There are ways to publish pictures taken by a real camera. Via Dropbox i.e. one can upload the pictures on Instagram.

In the beginning I published everything: Landscapes, food, yoga pictures, things. Soon this page looked like a storage room with everything in it.

There are so many pages that allows me to publish my portraits or studies on color or animals. My Instagram account is for yoga. I'll focus on that topic.

Today is August, 21. and I have 227 followers, I follow 659 people or companies. Let's see how many followers I'll have at the end of the year. I'm curious what this focus brings......