Peet_nl wrote:
I was approached by a firm who liked my photography and use of light. They (maybe) want me as an ambassador for their brand. Covid screwed some things up. 

However, when they saw my (old) insta account) (850 flwrs) they had doubts: I wasn't as hot as they thought...?

Leave them with their doubts.

ROUA IMAGES wrote:
Did "Brand Ambassador" wish to include money in their consideration or did they want to give you the privilege of receiving a few of their items to shoot and post to your own account for free?  .

I'll get their stuff and have to post some of the stuff on my social media and sometime metion them.  But were talking serious equiment.  Further I have to be present on fair and do demo's in shops.  I get paid for that part.

For me its a win/ win siutain.  I'll get new gear, and get noticed by a new audiance to fill my workshops and phototravels.
The workshops and travel are new business for me as the add agencies and magazines I used to work for are suffering big time from this pandemic, so I hardly get any jobs.

Peet_nl wrote:
I'm widely a published photographer, shot for the majoor magazines.

This impresses me!

Mark Salo wrote:

This impresses me!

Thanks, but work is low for me too..

MoRina wrote:
On Instagram it's all about the hashtags. Check out other photographers with large followings and see what tags they use. Also I looked at about a dozen of your images of models and I do not see anywhere you tagged the model. Is there a reason you don't identify the model? You should put her Instagram @ name on the photo and also use a hashtag with her name. Then all of her followers will see your image. If there is a reason you cannot post her name, then use a hashtag with the city you shot it in... Example: #praguemodel. Instagram is a platform where typically models get more attention than photographers. Figure out how to tap into that.

For several years I doubted the worth of being on Instagram, but honestly I started posting about 18 months ago and this year is my biggest earning year yet. And I only have about 7,000 followers. And half of what I post is cat pictures. People like to know about you personally. Try to incorporate some other images like behind-the-scenes stuff or candids during your shoots. Good luck.

Thanks MoRina,  You have some good remarks here.  Reason I don't mention the model is that there all (95%) agency signed. The agencies doesn't want their personal name on Insta. All bookings, all contacts should go through the agencies.

But I sure can try to use some #capetownmodels, or #LA_model hastags. I use hastags on my images, but don't want to overdo the hastags..

And true, people wanna see models, esp nudity. Sex sells, it still does.

And my personal life? That is what my other insta is about. See me travel, having diner, behind the scene. That stuff.  This insta has to be about me as a photographer, me and my pics.

IMAGINERIES wrote:
Oh...Well.. You are doing far better than me...I have maybe half dozen faithful friends!!
Looks like if you want to use IG to promote your work as a photographer you may have to pay a fee....

Think you're right here.  See people with some +K followers. That cant be organicly gained. 
Maybe in the beginning of insta, but nowadays, no way

Instinct Images wrote:
Some suggestions:

You have poor engagement from your existing followers. Delete ghosts (followers that don't engage with you by liking and/or commenting). Good engagement is 30 to 50%. Instagram rates posts based on how popular they are. If your followers don't like your post then Instagram will never display them on the Explore page which is where people can discover your account.

Use relevant hashtags. #city and #hot aren't relevant to a shot of a model. If I was searching the #city hashtag do you think I'd click on a pic of your model? But that's not an interesting hashtag anyway.. Too generic. If you aren't sure which hashtags to use then check popular accounts that post similar images as you and see what hashtags they use. Using only a few relevant hashtags is better than too many.

Don't confuse your followers. Are you posting pics of models or street photography? Posting both will ultimately lead to lower engagement.

Engage with your followers. Reply to all comments and reply with a question to drive more comments. Ask questions in the caption to drive engagement. The more a follower engages with your account the high priority your posts will be in that person's timeline.

Engage with non-followers. You can't sit back and expect people to find your account. Go out and search for content that is similar to yours then engage both the account and the people that comment on that account's posts.

Post consistently. Don't post too often though. No one wants to see 10 posts in a day. Once a day is usually plenty. 3 or 4 times per week minimum. The less active you are the less likely it is that your followers will see your posts.

Finally, don't obsess with numbers, especially follower count. I've seen accounts with over 15,000 followers getting 50+ likes. That just tells me they bought those 15,000 followers. Try to gain real followers that will engage with you. I screen all new followers and if they follow too many people, like 5,000+, then I remove them as a follower because they'll likely never see my posts anyway. If they are a company advertising by following me, I remove them. Fake accounts, removed.

Popularity on IG has almost nothing to do with the quality of your posts. Lots of accounts that post really poor quality shots have huge follower counts.