LONDON: How i ‘DO’ instagram, the ’10 minute rule’ & the big 500k milestone

Dedicated to the insta-lovers… not the h***rs!!!

Yeah this one’s been brewing longer than a craft beer… I think I started drafting some notes on what I do for my insta over a year ago so publishing this is quite frankly an unexpected triumph.

*big 500k on the horizon too so nicely timed i thought!

I’M NOT ECONOMICAL WITH MY TIME: “i don’t do instagram, instagram does me”

I’m not at all economical with my time because I literally take the time to take pictures of myself EVERYDAY. Christ the narcissism of it all!!

I don’t have stock content or create pictures way in advance. Rarely. Ever. When I have it’s most likely been sponsored and the brand have insisted on ‘signing off’ the image. For a control freak like me those instances are first world struggles I like to negotiate my way around.

I’m plagued by my own inability to commit to anything too far in advance:

…what i instagram/how i dress/what i eat, it’s all driven by my mood. I mean I never plan an outfit the night before, I never do a big shop at the supermarket and I can rarely predict what I’ll be posting on insta the next day. I must be a nightmare to live with.

*Apologies now if you’re reading this and thinking “wtf, this isn’t helping”

Bare with.

I TAKE 50 PHOTOS FOR EVERY ONE I POST “maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s an instagram filter”

From 50 I whittle them Next Top Model style down to a scrapbook edit… Six or seven favourites which I max.

My editing process is this:

I facetune (not lightroom) to highlight my skin, colour in dodgy backgrounds and remove any litter, weird neon signs, bruises! I lighten and brighten pictures in camera roll. I vsco app every image with the same filter for continuity – A5 is my filter.

In a nine grid I try to match the colours in my most recent pic with the 8th pic – this is most pleasing to the eye. Once I’m happy, I add additional contrast on the instagram app then post.

Do you think i need to get out more?

TRUST THE TIMING OF YOUR LIFE “or trust your instagram insights”

You get ten minutes kids, that’s all you get… Yep I’m like Stephen Hawking when it comes to studying insights on instagram. I’ve been using stats to schedule my posts for nearly a year now.

No point spending all that time creating cute pictures for no one to see them!

Course I post at optimum times, when the majority of my audience is online BUT the first ten minutes of posting is crucial – how the image performs in engagement (comments and likes) in that first ten minutes will decide the fate of where the post will be shared thereafter.

We got this

Truth is the algorithm is beatable… if you can drive enough engagement to your post as quickly as possible you can decide it’s future success.. Alongside posting at the right time, I dedicate attention to engaging on recent posts of people I follow for a good half an hour before and after I’ve posted. The fundamental principle of instagram is to create a community – so engagement is the name of the game.

You bored yet?

IF YOU CAN’T BE BETTER BE DIFFERENT “be you, everyone else is already taken”

I’ve been using the ‘if you can’t be better be different’ mantra since i started instagram three years ago.

@lornaluxe is nearly at 500k on the gram now (my other account @streetstyleluxe is at a healthy 285k which is epic) HOW DID THAT HAPPEN! I suspect it’s probably 90% luck, right timing, shed loads of support from others, consistency blah blah blah AND 10% – sticking to my own style and creating something unique to me.

Whether it’s a ‘shoefie’, a ‘chestfie’ or a regular ‘sat on steps questioning life’ I try to make the pic my own and create something instantly recognisable as me.

I just looked and I’m following nearly a thousand people on the gram!!! Some are mates but most are people unique in someway that I find inspiration from. Please if i’m not following you, share you insta in the comments… I try to follow at least one new account every month.

I still genuinely love insta, the shine hasn’t worn off for me just yet.

Just.

L xxxxxxx