My Journey To 10,000 Followers
Through a lot of ups and downs, trial and errors, and so much fun I can’t believe I met my goal of 10,000 followers. Read about my why, my journey, and my tips for success below!
*thank you to my awesome fiancé for surprising me with these balloons :)
A lot of you know me as @jetlaggedjenna. A lot of you probably don’t know how shy I really am. Behind the scenes, people in my personal life (coworkers, people in my apartment building, etc.) would be shocked to know that I am running a "social" media account like this. I stepped out of my comfort zone to put myself out there and create this account. Here is a little bit more about my journey to 10,000 followers.
Why Did I Start JetlaggedJenna?
I started this account because, of course, I love to travel. Back in 2019, I was traveling a lot for work and for fun and it got me thinking, why not create a travel blog? I knew I wanted to share my travels, but I also really wanted to share my tips for traveling too. I’m a planner and a saver, as well as someone who loves to help, so I wanted to help others experience travels in the best way possible!
When I created my account, I didn’t know all of the amazing things that I would get out of it. I created my account and blog in February of 2020.. Right before the world shut down, so it made my page a little harder, but being home gave me a lot of time to focus on it as well! I think having my blog and my Instagram helped me keep such a positive mood during the crazy times. And honestly, all of your guys’ positivity and real friendships kept me going. It really did. When I want to remove myself from the world for a bit, I know I can find that on my account on Instagram. I also didn’t know how much I would grow as a person when I created it. I have learned so much about myself as well as others around the world. Each day I am learning something new from one of you. So I just wanted to say thank you, thank you for being here with my on this journey and supporting me along the way!
Trial And Error (A lot of it!!)
Being completely honest here, I had absolutely no idea what the heck I was doing when I started my blog. Both from the website perspective and the Instagram perspective. I never really posted stories on my personal account and I sure didn’t know how to “create content”. When I first started to follow people, I did things completely wrong and for the first few months, my account really didn’t grow at all. I can’t remember the exact moment when my account started to take off, but it really is such trial and error. One day you think you have it figured out and the next day you don’t. So don’t get frustrated, just keep in going!
My Tips For You
So my tips aren’t tips saying “you need a posting schedule” or “use these hashtags to be successful”. I mean I don't even have “aesthetic” to my page, I never bought followers/engaged with follower loops, and I sometimes don’t even edit my photos 😅 So you can see, you don’t have to do all those things to be successful! My tips are more related to you and success with yourself too :)
1. Be authentic
This is at the top for me because it is so true. I found that when I build relationships with my followers and really made friends through this, my success went up. And even as my success did go up, I wanted to keep making real connections with people, not to just keep building my account. I will say over and over again, the people I have met on here are so amazing.
2. Keep it fun!
I have had some people reach out to me asking what my tips are, and this is a key one for me. We all created our accounts because we have a passion for something and we should remember that’s why we do it! It’s okay if one photo doesn’t have as high engagement. The number of likes isn’t why we started this!! Just be happy doing what you love :)
3. Don’t worry about your dang ratio!
I know this is a big thing to a lot of people, but it seems like a lot of people and businesses I have talked to, only really care about your own followers and the engagement you are getting (I would be following 10K+ if Instagram didn’t have a limit!).
4. Don’t stress about “hashtags tips” or “engagement tips”
I fell into the trap of these videos when they were really popular. How can I utilize the right hashtags to get more engagement? Why didn’t the hashtags work on this one then? Asking these questions all the time is so time consuming and self consuming. I found myself not enjoying what I was doing as much, and in my experience, this is when my engagement went down because I just was fed up with Instagram. As I mentioned in tip 2, just do what you love!
A Few Of My Favorite Moments On My Way To 10K
1. Starting out my blog website - it was a long process to get it up and running, and I was so happy with the end product! It’s a great way for me to be creative each week!
2. Researching travel tips (I have learned so much myself!) - From top travel credit cards to packing tips and everything in between, I have had so much fun figuring out some travel hacks and sharing it with all of you!
3. Getting a shout out from United for my blog post - This was one of those moments where you just are in such shock you can’t believe it’s real. I couldn’t believe United had a swipe up link on their story to my blog about traveling during COVID!! Coolest. Thing. Ever.
4. Getting to 10K! - I didn’t think it was possible when I started my blog, and this wasn’t my goal for a long time! It was probably around 2,000 or 3,000 when I was like okay let’s do this! Ever since, I have got the ground running and I’m finally here and it feels so great!!
If you made it this far, thanks for sticking around! I hope you learned something or just enjoyed hearing my story of my journey to 10K. My number one tip is to just be authentic and yourself. Always be yourself to the fullest!
~ Jenna