Social Media Marketing : SEP Episode #106: How to Create An Instagram Influencer with Zach Benson

How to Create An Instagram Influencer with Zach Benson

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On today’s episode, we have Zach Benson. Zach is the founder of Assistagram, an Instagram authority marketing agency, where he helps and creates Instagram Influencers on a daily basis. Zach is absolutely brilliant and has a great story that I am excited to share with you.

Zach Benson is a TEDx speaker, social-media trainer for international brands like The Four Seasons, Ritz Carlton, and ViceRoy, and past participant on “So You Think You Can Dance.” Benson doesn’t just manage his own Instagram network of millions; he’s also the founder of Assistagram, where he’s guiding other influencers and Fortune 500 companies into social media success. Lastly, he is the founder of a 6 Figure Dancer Academy, where he teaches other dancers the exact step-by-step system that he used to create a profitable 6-figure dancing business while traveling the world.

We are going to learn about some of his philosophies to connect with influencers, grow your influence through Instagram in general. We are going to learn about his upcoming book, Reach, and his somewhat unique approach to writing this book in a reverse engineering success kind of way.

We discuss:

[02:06] Zach shares about his defining moment.
[03:43] He could have been bitter from breaking his back, but he decided to jump all in with his friend growing peoples’ accounts on Instagram. He decided to go for it and see where it took him.
[05:40] He didn’t go back to where he felt comfortable because he wanted to keep moving forward and try something new.
[05:58] Kyle shares a story about one of his heroes.
[08:02] Zach’s new book is called Reach: How to Connect With Anyone, Grow Your Business, Grow Your Influence. He expects it to be out around the end of the year.
[08:29] For Zach life is all about the people and the relationships. It is about your connections and network. With a bigger network, you have more influence and power to use for good that can help people.
[10:20] When you’re doing outreach send a message that is filled with value. Do your research, compliment them on something they said or did, and figure out what they are working on and something you can help them with.
[11:02] Make it all about the other person. When you are on a call with them, listen to them and make them feel understood. Make them really feel like you care about their mission and show them different ways you can help support them and bring them closer to their goals and dreams.
[11:56] You have to hear a lot of nos before you hear that yes.
[15:34] You can’t simply just post and grow on Instagram anymore.
[16:05] If you want to grow your Instagram account now, use a repost strategy. Repost other peoples’ content and give them credit.
[16:40] With great content comes more growth.
[17:54] You can grow repost pages a lot faster on Instagram. Then you can start trying to create content later.
[18:57] You can actually buy an account that already has a prebuilt following.
[20:01] Zach’s company also offers content creation, posting, hashtags, and engagement. They manage accounts seven days a week.
[23:02] You can also get paid as an Instagram Influencer. Zach has gotten over 700 nights for free as some of the most luxurious hotels in the world in the past three years.
[23:31] There are a lot of things you can do when you have a big audience.
[25:03] It is about creating relationships and adding value.
[26:21] Zach is reverse engineering his book.
[28:31] There are many alternative approaches for people that want to write a book.
[30:32] There are many ways to monetize Instagram. When you have over 10,000 followers you unlock the stories swipe up feature.
[31:08] You can go on Instagram Live and share some value and takeaways and end with a call to action to set up a call with you.
[33:45] Storytelling is the most powerful and effective way to get your message across and to sell people on your services.
[36:27] It is important to figure out your style and be who you are. Continue to develop and grow yourself and learn skills that can help you take it to the next level.