Last Updated on 06/28/2023 by Lara Carretero
Virginia-based photographer Aliyah Dastour is suing Monopolize after spending $50,000 with them on services that included gaining a hundred thousand new followers on Instagram. Her business involves doing headshots for other businesses in Virginia and building their following, according to her LinkedIn profile. This begs the question of why she would need to build her own following and pay another company to do it for her. But the story gets even more complicated and teaches a great lesson to photographers.
According to Rob Freund, Aliyah met the cofounder of Monopolize at one of those conferences for entrepreneurs. He sold her a business plan that would provide her with a handful of services, such as a full-day workshop, strategy consulting, monetization systems, a feature on either Forbes or USA Today, and, more importantly, a hundred thousand new followers on Instagram. All of this for the low, low price of $50K. No big deal, huh?
A year later, Aliyah is suing Monopolize, stating that not only she didn’t receive any kind of help with her strategy, but that the followers she bought were worth less than a subscription to Twitter, as they were all fake and provided no noticeable change on engagement or leads.
Quelle surprise!
Buying social media presence? follow this simple tip: don’t.
Believe it or not, I’ve been spending —maybe misspending, who knows—more than a few of my years on social media sites like Twitter, Instagram, or even MySpace. I’ve done time on all of them both as a user and a manager for third parties, and I’ve come to understand that organic growth beats all the alternatives with a shovel, especially when it comes to real businesses like ours.
One of these past clients wanted to increase their followers dramatically, and as such, instructed me to go buy one of these packages. I tried to talk them against it, but as my then-boss thought of it, the customer is always right. What happened? The client got two thousand new followers in a matter of days! Of course, all of them were accounts supposedly located in the Middle East, so the engagement on their very local, very physical business was completely unaffected.
While this may have come as a surprise to my past clients, who didn’t know Instagram from risotto, I can’t believe Aliyah Dastour bought into it — especially as she has a YouTube channel on how to grow a following organically.
Now think of this: is there any business more physical and more local than ours? Most of us won’t travel beyond the confines of our state for a photo shoot, as most clients won’t even think of paying for the travel expenses. What’s the use of a thousand followers here, there, and everywhere, even if they’re real accounts and not bots?
If you asked me what’s the worst thing about the Internet these days, I’d be hard-pressed to choose. After all, there’s such a trove of things to sneer at and discard, most people wouldn’t even know where to start! But if I had to choose, it would be the pressure to be seen — the need to have more followers, more views, and more eyes on you than your rivals, your competitors, or even your friends, presumably in search of some mythical Return of Investment.
This pressure to be seen leads, inevitably, to people wanting to cheat to gain followers, engagement or views — or in some cases, like this one, to unscrupulous scammers selling that very idea to photographers who may be struggling to find their niche.
How to achieve organic growth in social media
While this may go beyond the scope of this article, I won’t feel happy if I don’t give you some tips on how to achieve some of that valuable organic growth I’ve been telling you about.
Interact with your community
I don’t believe in working for exposure, as that’s a proven disaster. That’s different from what I really believe in — working for a cause. It can be your local Pride March, a puppy adoption drive, or any kind of event you’d like to support.
Show up, take the pictures you feel comfortable taking, and make sure to tag the organizers in them. They will make sure your pictures are seen and appreciated by local people, the ones who attended the event, and the ones you’re interested in reaching.
Attend networking events
In services such as Meetup, you can find a hundred events to attend, ranging from language exchanges to photo walks. Interact with people; it will not only help you to grow your following, but it will also help you get new leads in a way that social media can’t. Something to keep in mind, though; don’t take every interaction as a possible money-maker. It won’t work, and it will make you look desperate.
Be proud of what you do
Believe it or not, pride is your ally. If anyone asks you about your camera, hand out business cards. Show them your pictures. Look for the appropriate local hashtags or communities and show off your work. This will get eyes on your art, and some of those eyes will be interested in knowing more about what you do. Don’t spam the communities either; be proud, not obnoxious.
Get people to talk about your work
Even though a majority of your business will come from local followers and local leads, it never hurts to be seen outside your usual hunting grounds. Personally, I’ve had tourists reaching out to me because they knew my work and they were coming to my city! One way to do this is, for example, by reaching out to us and having your work featured on The Phoblographer. After all, we know our site has helped photographers get recognition, jobs and careers. Show us your best work and let us help you!
The value of your own domains
As a last note, there’s something most people on social media don’t even think about; your social media account is not truly yours. You’re completely, undoubtedly, subject to the whims of their owners; a nip-slip or a false report from a bad actor can knock down your account for good, throwing all your effort and work into the trash.
You can (and should) use social media to gain followers, but you have to make sure they know they can reach you and follow you on your own personal website, a self-hosted affair over which you and only you have any control.
Build a blog and make sure your followers know of it. Make a newsletter and do your best to convince your followers to join.
Make sure your work doesn’t disappear into the ether just because someone is jealous of what you do or what you are.