Here are excerpts from our conversation.<\/p>\n
Q. Hi Haris, tell us about yourself<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Haris:<\/strong> I build strategies that help your brand to grow in social media. I run a company called Harris & co where we help business owners grow their business with online marketer. I believe if you want to be a successful internet marketer, you need these 3 C’s, which is Coaching, Community, and Consulting.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n So, if you look at it, we build \u2018Communities\u2019 for ourselves on LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube. And, then, you need a product to push through using the power of the internet. That\u2019s what I refer to as \u2018Consulting\u2019 or ‘Conversion.’<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, when you consult, you will have a lot of information and knowledge. Now, it is time to pass on that information, so that’s where \u2018Coaching\u2019 comes in. I believe, if you have these 3 C’s, you can become a seven-figure or eight-figure internet marketer. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Haris:<\/strong> I started my entrepreneurial journey in 11th <\/sup>standard by printing a magazine. Since then, I have started close to 16 different types of businesses and 15 of them just failed. My last failure was in February 2019, and it got me into a lot of trouble.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n All those failures pushed me into depression. But, my life changed when I decided to quit my last job and just focus on building something for myself. I rented a flat and stayed there for 2 months, and I jotted down a ton of ideas to start on my own.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n So I just went with the flow and started my agency as a one-man team.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Haris<\/strong>: My agency is still very young, but we are able to consistently produce good results for our clients.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, one of our clients garnered more than 15,000 followers on Instagram, in just a matter of six to seven months. One other client has already crossed more than 5,000 in a really short period of time.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n We don\u2019t just believe in putting in the work, but also in getting results. We believe in the end result for our clients. Our core objective is to get measurable results for each client that comes to us.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n We are ready to spend any amount of money and time to get that result for our clients. At the end of the day, people hire us for the results. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c You can either have results or excuses – Not Both \u201c<\/p>– Arnold Schwarzenegger<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Haris<\/strong>: Yes, that\u2019s true. I have an active community called Stories Revolutionary where we motivate people to tell stories about their life. We want a lot of people to start telling their stories because that is something which we forgot in this modern world. In olden days, our forefathers were master storytellers, but somehow, that is a forgotten art now.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n We do a lot of programs in that community through the art of storytelling. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Apart from that, I focus on helping small businesses in Kerala, India. That’s why I give away my Sundays as \u201cSmall Business Sunday\u201d. Every Sunday from 7-9 pm, I sit down with small business owners and give them a free consultation. I am also planning for a small business tour to all the 14 districts in Kerala and guide them with online marketing.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I have started and failed at 16 different types of business<\/strong>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Collectively I have wasted around eight years of my life, just because I had no clue on how to scale my business. I did not have a mentor because I was brought up in a rural place in Kerala. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I do not want the same thing to happen with the small business around me. I want to help small business owners effectively scale up their business. I want these business owners to have the help and guidance I never had.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s why I do this every Sunday, for free<\/strong>! <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n My mission statement is to help 10,000 small business owners in Kerala.<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n There are a lot of like strategies focused on building your IG numbers, but the most important is about building conversation with people on Instagram. You need to connect with each person and strike a conversation with them. Instagram is not just about watching pictures, getting replies and likes. All of these things are just vanity metrics in the grand scheme of things. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s say that you have 200 people following you on Instagram. Now that\u2019s 200 people waiting to hear and see your posts, every time you open your Instagram. If you put that 200 people in a room, you wouldn\u2019t even be able to fit them all in. You would need to rent a hall to actually fit 200 followers! <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Here is where most people go wrong.<\/strong> They don\u2019t focus on the 200 people they already have. Instead, they go outside the room and wait for the next 100 people to show up. They don\u2019t understand the value of the 200 followers they already have. Instead, they choose to focus on the new followers for their Instagram.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n You need to think about ways to add value to the lives of 200 people who already follow you. You need to impact these 200 people with high quality content. Once you truly impact these 200 people, they will start talking about you in public and bring you the next set of 100 people. Each follower will become your advocate and bring in a new set of followers to your IG account. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n That’s exactly how you create a community when you begin on Instagram. You have to put in the effort to talk with the people and identify their problems. Then you have to create content that helps to solve their problem.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t confuse your audience by being everything to everyone. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Five years back, if someone came to you and told you that \u201cI’m a motivational speaker\u201c, you’d have huge respect for them. But, today, if someone told you, “I’m a motivational speaker,” you wouldn\u2019t give a damn about it. This is because the motivational speaking space has become so crowded. So people are not surprised when you say that you\u2019re a motivational speaker anymore.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s the same way it works with Instagram right now. Nowadays, general keywords or general things do not work as they used to. To be exceptional you need to go deep and pick a solid niche for yourself. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Be specific with who you are and stop confusing your audience.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, let\u2019s consider two people – an Instagram marketer and a digital marketer. If you have doubts related to Instagram, would you go to a digital marketer, or would you choose the Instagram marketer?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you are someone like me, you would definitely go to Instagram marketers. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Even if the digital marketer has 100,000 followers and the Instagram marketer has only 10,000 followers, I would still choose the Instagram marketer.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Because the Instagram marketer can help me solve my problems on Instagram. He is the perfect person to help you because he is not being everything to everyone. So he does not confuse your audience.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n As a content creator, you need to build your personal brand in one specific niche and build up from there. You should never confuse your audience.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sure, your growth as an Instagram marketer will be slow when compared to the digital marketer. But when you niche down, you will be known to your audience for one specific thing.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s your competitive advantage to the digital marketer who is not known for one specific thing.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n When I started my career as a digital marketer, my first client was my own brand. I started experimenting with a lot of things on my own profile and built my portfolio. This is something I showed to my clients and that\u2019s how I got my initial projects. I used my profile as a lab and ran a ton of social media experiments on it. Right now, I’m not focused on building my numbers, but just put out good content and experiment with it. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n So if you\u2019re new to Instagram, the first thing you should do is create content and run experiments on your own profile. This way you build your brand while also understanding what truly works in your industry.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Apart from good content and community interaction, you need a well-written bio and a profile picture. That should be the bare minimum when you are starting out with Instagram. As you post more content, you can start worrying about color combinations and other specifics on your profile. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n When you are starting out, it’s all about great content and consistency. Instagram is a crowded place and you need lots of consistency to build a solid audience. You need to be aggressive with your marketing and content creation on Instagram. Five posts in a month were something that used to work five years back, but not today. Most of the strategies that worked a year back, do not exist anymore.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The only thing that still works is consistency<\/strong>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Always be consistent with your content and community on Instagram. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I’d rather help people by giving them fresh content regularly.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Most people are obsessed with quality when they are just starting out. On the other hand, I believe in consistency. When you start, you have to take massive action and that\u2019s not gonna happen if you\u2019re obsessed with quality. Quality will prevent you from doing consistent action and you stop posting altogether.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n When you are just starting out, quantity is more important than quality. With a high quantity, your quality also starts to improve.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n With more quantity, you will have a new barrier every day and you automatically cross that barrier each day. After one to three months, you can compare yourself and see that improvement over time.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Without consistency and quantity, you will not realize the barriers you have to overcome. Without realizing them, you won\u2019t overcome them. Without overcoming them, your quality will never improve. It will always be the same.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n According to my experience, Instagram Reels give you a lot of reaches, and then comes IGTV. After IGTV, Instagram pushed out one-minute videos a lot. If you’re thinking about getting a ton of sales, then the biggest thing you need to work on is Instagram Carousel<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Instagram Carousel allows you to sell in a subtle way with the power of content. For example, we use the AIDA technique to grab attention on the first page and take their interest throughout the Instagram Carousel. We increase their desire, and in the end, we create a Call to Action for an ebook or a digital product. The Call to Action at the end of the slide will get a ton of traction and from there you get people to your marketing funnel.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n With Instagram Reels, you need to be a little entertaining and creative with your message. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n With Photos, it can be tough for you to break out of the crowd because it is crowded. You need to have a solid color combination and people need to be charmed by your aesthetics.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s what I truly believe: If you want to make it to Instagram right now, focus on Reels. Put out as many reels as you can to improve the reach of your IG profile at this moment.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, I have tons of examples of that. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n One of my clients started using reels just five months back, and we have already crossed a million views. One of these last videos garnered close to 300,000 views and that\u2019s giving us 100-200 followers every single day.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Initially, the views-to-follower conversion was less, but we started using a very specific call to action and the conversion rates just blew through the roof. Right now, we have hit close to 16,500 followers in a span of five months.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Now that\u2019s real growth for a niche account.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Haris<\/strong>: There are a ton of creators who are just using the carousel to reach milestones of 300k, 500k, and one million followers. When creating your carousel, here\u2019s a simple principle you can follow.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n If you’re not grabbing the attention of the scroller, nobody will see it.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n You shouldn\u2019t put all your good points on the second slide. Build a story and move people from one slide to the next.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Your final slide should ask the viewer to do only one thing. For example, you can ask them to do one of the following things in the CTA<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Etc<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Haris<\/strong>: I see people make a ton of mistakes on Instagram. But I\u2019ll keep it short and tell you about the most common mistakes.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n People are not ready to lose stuff and so they want to post about everything they love. Unless you’re in the entertainment sector, posting about anything and everything is not a good strategy. If you really want to build your brand and start generating leads, you need to be specific about what you are talking about.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n People can get confused when you are posting about everything on the internet. They don\u2019t connect with you on a deep level. They will never remember you for the things that you\u2019re really good at.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Instagram of 2021 does not work like that.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n You should go deep down and find 100 people who would love to hear from you. You need to start caring about them and understand their difficulties and challenges. Then create content that either entertains or educates them.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n When you have taken hold of that niche, start focusing on the next niche and the next 100 people.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Design](\"https:\/\/www.picmaker.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Blog-Graphics-2-9.png\")
<\/a>Q. Tell us about your Entrepreneurship journey<\/h2><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Q. Tell us more about your new company<\/h2><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Q. Tell us more about your community program to help small businesses.<\/h2><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Q. What are your favourite strategies for building an audience on Instagram?<\/h2><\/div>\n\n\n\n
1. Community and conversations (focus on the people you already have)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s what you can do <\/h4>\n\n\n\n
![\"Haris-Aboobacker-tip-1-Picmaker\"](\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/HkeH-Onqty7HisbovdmERDWtxGDc44aVdRxYJQ2zGq5ik9yISjj0ruR276OofR59OE_XFn6gpGjErNmBC7V4WSHQnySghoblA8zvClQYyM8OSYZq7nieoxgZl5pp4fAE3WPQVTx4\")
2. Niche down your audience<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Starting](\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/xosarah.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/to-niche.png?fit=800%2C800\")
![\"Haris-Aboobacker-tip-2-Picmaker\"](\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/_NKk1mUr-JFaD2QXqpwi9AHeuE-elSDdJU2fT2-rsLckBXcnjvE7GTJa_yKUvVvLXSCnlorTn9EQ08_Xa-Ef5dk7CheHqF3LrSlgJtaVvZ5mcLB81JLDdkCQuKFTNC0n3DfnGOJg\")
3. Experiment with your own profile<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Haris-Aboobacker-tip-3-Picmaker\"](\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/3WXdqvqOpyb5mogIZp7-Qi1-4AmZ6LDvXUyjzm4DYJ0lsxyJhAwEZ4oqlDno-96EcRu-c5P9CkHXBf69uE86YnZWV9evsGsReVOhmqpWzyuqSfK7SteFpWh1ef_RLTTu9hSlq7Ch\")
4. Have a good profile picture and well-written BIO<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Haris-Aboobacker-tip-4-Picmaker\"](\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/R85feK16nR2RKri_RJZ8aL3RyGYvNlygQMPnTnNeVeyjAxHGuG-ZX55oXomN_WgHsh_6IpSJ9XUCPgzrUsyrWZJLUOhVKQcasip7ETI2PZkPYQVZL2KbMQo8tmOi8hAsl-P6VAYs\")
5. Be consistent with what you do on Instagram<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Haris-Aboobacker-tip-5-Picmaker\"](\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/8SMmXGtOcJLqR7NtBc8Dqiw2tC3XBq1h3sKGaapS_MlsZeAvODaGUPEvebMW0WhlwJTEv8cjpUaU_mSRs-v0EH4EAcPGlDQI7bk4bJyCC9a1lJGbvBeZriamAOooo2Up-NGA4yS7\")
Q. Quality or quantity: What would you prefer on Instagram?<\/h2><\/div>\n\n\n\n
![\"Haris-Aboobacker-tip-Quality-over-quantity-Picmaker\"](\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/H_F58rqPHor6AkFl65VmyPnhgg2tnQxh0yg8YZ88qdOJT7f5fufArk_GhDmhhOPeLZWXZeCQQXHYyjd_irGna6B70Bm9OuG2J9wWzg38K9_8KVrlQhaakyKzplWmhvJ3431HYplq\")
Q. What\u2019s the best content format to post on Instagram?<\/h2><\/div>\n\n\n\n
![\"Haris-Aboobacker-tip-best-types-of-content-Picmaker\"](\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/NvN4b2Z4BqGDuzXAMpxknTs6zY-yehMClGuBC7nRbKsszsHAbCYx5XOOYcUosOO9e762OB3RKgK_nemFmuSnE9weoDBlIoJAMHJAefLIrA8TPyCVctrWKX9b0ujdLCu9DQJwmnfo\")
Do you have any examples where IG reels have worked?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Design](\"https:\/\/www.picmaker.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/Blog-Graphics-2-10.png\")
<\/a>Q: What\u2019s your success theory for IG carousel posts?<\/h2><\/div>\n\n\n\n
1. Your first slide should be able to grab attention:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2. Your content should move them from one slide to the next<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
3. Have a strong and focused CTA at the end<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Q: What are the most common mistakes people make on Instagram?<\/h2><\/div>\n\n\n\n
Trying to be everything to everyone<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Robin](\"https:\/\/www.azquotes.com\/picture-quotes\/quote-the-business-and-person-who-tries-to-be-everything-to-everyone-ends-up-being-nothing-robin-sharma-85-34-80.jpg\")
![\"The](\"https:\/\/miro.medium.com\/max\/5040\/0*Z6EUBVFiZdg1iyBy.png\")
![\"Mistakes](\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/YKE9HPVcBsAF5pB3PwJeXMuigka7up5GueGpaeqkgRRNUFcRk0B8IzhoaeqTG2-thTHEi2MroqkxM1e0CVmMjuBihdYF8ae6HLCzVlbExDmsv_a5bFZPZQq_tl3v4KmypEzjdpxz\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"Haris](\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/KeMmJ77nregpv3LfEW0HfjI5Gjtk-vixEsIAWGsimIBsj3wadq53DrsxAvCOTGB0YC85Obp7jztrteYrcMWtrDqWu8KHegCrKfv3E38g4PXUI1l8NLiJYZ_FzcIcRpEurRJsskGL\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n