Back in August 2018, I decided to start an Instagram account posting my daily outfits. My reason was I had seen a photo of myself looking really frumpy. I was 52 years old at the time and it looked like I didn’t care about my appearance. Having always loved fashion, I was surprised at how much I’d let myself go! I’d been a stay-at-home mum for a long time and dressing up wasn’t a priority. So starting my Instagram account was a way to change that.
I was following one account at the time – a lady who did try-ons of clothing and was honest in her opinion of whether they suited her or not. I thought this was refreshing to see. She provided links to the clothing so you could buy the same item if you wanted to. Again – I thought – what a great idea and it prompted me to do the same. But in order to show links to the clothing, I had to get 10k followers like her! So I set out to increase my following
I enlisted the help of one of my friends who is a marketing genius! She showed me ways to create good content and engage with my followers. My following began to grow.
I would go to the shops, try on different outfits and post them. All of it was totally outside my comfort zone, but fun at the same time.
I introduced Mannequin Mondays. I would take photos of the clothing on the mannequin and then show what it looked like on me. This gave my followers an idea of how the clothing fit on me as opposed to the mannequin.
As my account grew, so did my knowledge and somehow I became an accidental fashion influencer. Brands started to approach me to promote their clothing and products. This was a whole new industry I knew nothing about and there were no guidelines on how to go about it. So I just kept learning.
I learned about:
- content creation – how to create great photos/videos, strike different poses, create good lighting, and editing techniques, as well as creative design in Canva.
- affiliate marketing – what works and what doesn’t.
- working with brands – what to do and what not to do!
- personal styling and colour analysis.
I hit my 10K goal after about a year I think. But then the Instagram Algorithm changed and it didn’t matter how many followers I had. It was all about engagement. I love the followers I have connected with over the years. They are a wonderful, supportive community of women, many of whom have become my friends.
So who would have thought starting a little old Instagram account could lead to gaining so much knowledge about the fashion-influencing industry?
My next goal is to impart this knowledge to anyone wanting to learn more about the industry. It’s the information I wished someone had taught me when I first started!
If you have any questions or need any help, let me know.
Love Dimitie xx
