How To Make Money From Your Instagram Travel Photos

Companies are expected to spend more than $1 billion on marketing with Instagram influencers this year. With that kind of money flying around, it may be time to get your account looking pretty, your follower numbers on the rise, and the cash rolling in. Here are our top tips for making your Instagram account a gold mine.

Build a theme

If you want to attract brands to your Instagram, it probably needs a theme. If you’re confident of becoming the next big name socialite, that theme can be you, if not, then pick something you’re passionate about and make your Instagram all about it. Travel makes for a fantastic theme, as Instagram is the perfect place to see great photos from all over the world, and inspire a little wanderlust.

Get 5,000 followers

And here’s the hard part. To really make money from your Instagram account you’ll need at least 5,000 followers. And don’t be tempted to buy them, you’ll end up with a bunch of bots for a couple of weeks and your numbers will drop quickly again as they’re banned from the site. There are a few tips to build a following, however…

Post regularly

It sounds obvious, but if you’re not posting regularly then people are less likely to find your account and follow it. This means you need two things: organization and discipline. You shouldn’t ever go a day without a post, so if you can line up plenty in advance you won’t be scrambling to post anything in the evening.

Quality counts

The top Instagram accounts use some serious hardware to take their photos, and while we’re not saying you need to go out and spend thousands on a camera, you should still aspire to hit the highest quality possible. Luckily cameras on phones are getting better every year, and with a little editing, you can get the most out of your photos and put a professional gloss on your snaps.

Interactions matter

Whether that’s liking and commenting on other people’s photos, or just getting your hashtags right, you need to pay attention to the smaller details if the cash is going to start to flow straight from your feed.

Did you know – Culture Trip now does bookable, small-group trips? Pick from authentic, immersive Epic Trips, compact and action-packed Mini Trips and sparkling, expansive Sailing Trips.

About the author

Peter Ward

Tech Editor

Peter was born in Birmingham, England and was raised in North Wales. He studied journalism at the University of Sheffield before moving to Dubai, where he worked for several business magazines. After three years in the Middle East, Peter moved to New York to earn his master's degree in business journalism from Columbia University Journalism School. He has since written for international publications such as Bloomberg, The Economist and Newsweek. In his spare time Peter loves to play and watch soccer, go to the movies, read, and play video games.