I took blogging as full-time job and started earning from Instagram-Mohammed Shujaath

**Mohammed Shujaath  - **mohammed_shuj

I run the fashion and lifestyle account @mohammed_shuj on Instagram. So I am here with some tips and personal story of how I got paid on Instagram and built my success.

I initially started out blogging 3 years ago. It was a way for me to journal out my thought sand keep in touch with my family. As the social media world emerged I really just started sharing my favorite things with my followers, mostly clothes, beauty, and food items. My followers didn’t grow overnight that’s for sure. It took a good few years of really focusing on my social media and treating it like my job. I think engaging with your audiences definitely top priority when growing your Instagram. Make sure you reply to every comment and DM that you’re able to, and also go and engage on their page as well. Doing This goes a long way and builds an authentic relationship with your followers. When brands started reaching out to me to work with them about 2 years ago, I realized “Hey I can make an income doing this while staying home”, so I decided to go for it and become an influencer. And I do remember my first paid collaboration. I was so excited, it was with FastTrack. The marketing team who was representing them reached out to me through email. I needed to do a blog post as well as an IG feed post. After that I started getting paid collaborations within the 6 months. When a brand reaches out to me, the first thing I do is make sure it’s a good fit, Is it something my audience would be interested in, Is it something I genuinely want to promote. Then I look through the contract and see what the deliverables are (how many posts/stories need to be published, what type of content, how the product should be mentioned in the content, what hashtags need to be used, etc. If I feel like we’re a good fit then I go for it. And I think the most successful collaborations are the ones where you build a long-time partnership with a brand. Not just a one time post and done situation. I love building connections with the brand and the people that are overseeing the collaboration. When The brand comes back to work with me again. I consider it successful. As I look at my goals for the coming year, first of all I want to stay authentic to who I am as a person. I also want to build more long term partnerships with brands, and do a lot more travel focused posts. I would love to one day have a clothing collection with a brand. Myriam would be Nordstrom, but I also want to partner with a boutique I love, where I could choose items from and promote. I’ve seen a few influencers do this, and think it would be so fun. I’d also love to do more traveling collaborations with my familiar last my free advice to all the influencers out there, or ones that are wondering how to get paid on Instagram, connect with like minded influencers. I’ve made so many Instagram friends with women who are killing it on Instagram and we’re all huge supporters of on another. Last but not least, keep your mind focused on your journey. It’s so easy to look to the left or the right and start comparing. Don’t do it. Stay in your lane, and celebrate your successes and those around you who are cheering you on. You got this!