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5 Benefits of Scheduling Instagram Posts – As a busy wife, mom and blogger, finding ways to stream-line my daily tasks is a must. In life and in business I need to be efficient with my time and scheduling my Instagram posts has been one small thing that helps me do that.

My Instagram account plays an integral part in my brand as a whole and is instrumental in helping me to connect with my audience and share new content with them. I devote a lot of time and effort into maintaining an intentional, inspiring and engaged Instagram feed and being able to plan and schedule out my Instagram posts in advance has been a huge game changer for me!

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Benefits of Instagram Scheduling

Throughout my 10+ years of blogging I’ve learned a few things that have been essential in helping me run my business. A motto I’ve adopted in recent years has been to “work smarter, not harder” and I’ve found some really valuable tools that have allowed me to do just that.

Tailwind is a tool I started using last year mainly for Pinterest Scheduling and I’ve been so impressed with the services they offer and the resulting growth I’ve experienced in my Pinterest following. When they introduced their tool for Instagram it only made sense for me to give it a try based on the positive results I’d seen with Pinterest.

Below you’ll find 5 benefits I’ve gleaned from scheduling my Instagram feed as well as some valuable information on what the Tailwind scheduling tool has to offer.

1. Scheduling Ahead Saves Time

As bloggers we have so many different roles to play during a given week. Wife, mom, chaeffeur, content marketer, social media strategist, photographer. Making the best use of your time isn’t just a nice idea, it’s essential when it comes to getting things done.

There are only 24 hours in a day and I don’t know about you, but I don’t have space to delegate 2 or more of those hours to social media. When it comes to posting on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Instagram I want to get in and out as quickly as possible.

The ability to schedule my Instagram feed means I can block out a certain amount of time each day for the task and be done with it. I can prepare my Instagram posts in bulk and save time throughout my week by not having to come up with captions, research hashtags or edit photos on the fly.

2. More Efficient Work Flow

I used to waste a lot of time waiting for or strategizing about the right time of day to post on Instagram but Tailwind has made Instagram posting so much more efficient for me.

Using their Smart Scheduler ensures that I’ll always schedule at the right time of day for my audience –which is so important for engagement.

With the new Instagram changes you may have noticed a drop in likes and engagement on your account. These changes had a negative impact on my Instagram growth so I’m anxious to track how the smart scheduling tool helps with finding ideal times to post and interact with my followers.

If I’m taking the time to take beautiful photos and prepare thoughtful captions I want to make sure I’m using my resources in the most efficient manner by posting them when people will see my photos and potentially like or comment on them. I love how Tailwind takes the guess work out of knowing when to post!

As I mentioned, I use Tailwind to schedule on Pinterest as well. I love being able to schedule several of my social media channels using one tool. It’s helped me be more efficient and has very positively impacted my social media growth.

3. Builds Consistency

Before I started to use a scheduler for Instagram I was relatively hit or miss about when I posted. Using Tailwind has given me the ability to post more regularly and to curate a consistent looking feed.

I’m no longer posting at random, I have a posting strategy that is working for me.  With Tailwind I can easily see what upcoming content I have slotted to share and I can edit my schedule quickly and easily by dragging and dropping posts whereever I’d like them to go.

The main reason I used to post so inconsistently is because I just wasn’t available at peak posting times to be ON Instagram. The Tailwind app sends me reminders for posts that I have pre-scheduled making it handy to be able to post on the go.

4. Allows you to Step away from Social Media

I love the ability to schedule out my Instagram posts a week or two in advance so that I can step away from my phone. We all know how valuable taking a break from constantly being on social media can be. It’s refreshing to step away, focus on other things and come back to it with a new perspective.

Being able to step away from social media knowing that updates are still being posted in my absence does wonders for my peace of mind. I can take time away to be with family and not worry about my blog or social channels being stagnant.

The ability to schedule ahead and be off of Instagram itself has been huge when it comes to my productivity. We all know how easy it is to get sucked into the social media black hole that when we hop onto Facebook or Instagram to do one quick thing. You get scrolling and before you know it you’ve lost an hour of time you could have been using to do something more important. I love that tailwind helps me be less distracted by handling Instagram in chunks and being able to step away while my account remains active.

5. Keeps Things Organized

Scheduling my Instagram feed in advance has helped me to get myself organized by forcing me to put some forethought into my feed.

Their analytics help me strategize and really hone in on what my audience responds to and plan accordingly.

I do a lot of work from my desktop and being able to grab images from my own site or my Facebook page to schedule from has been amazing! I can type faster on desktop that on my phone making it easier for me to formulate draft posts and keep things organized.

I also like the ability that Tailwind gives me to search and draw content from certain hashtags. When I draft a post using another authors image it gives automatic attribution to the original poster – no more accidentally forgetting.

*Bonus: Tailwind just added this AMAZING Instagram scheduling feature that I can’t wait to try!

Hashtag Lists

Save lists of top hashtags you commonly use for each type of content you post and save yourself hours by always having them at your fingertips!  No more memorizing, copying and pasting from spreadsheets, or switching between apps to hunt down tags from an old post.

Access your saved hashtag lists on any draft Instagram post in Tailwind – just find the “#” button (highlighted in the screenshot above). From there, click on the “+” button to create a new saved hashtag list, or click on any existing saved hashtag list to append it right to your post’s caption!

Utilizing a scheduler for my social media posting has been a small, but pivotal way I’ve been able to save time and energy when it comes to blogging. I hope you found this post informative and if you have any questions for me I’m happy to answer what I can!

How to Start a Photography Blog

If you’ve ever considered starting a photography blog—whether to connect with other women, to motivate you to hone your skills, or to launch a professional business—I’ve put together 5 simple steps will give you a solid foundation for building a beautiful photography site in this blog post.

A few years ago, I got my very first DSLR camera, and I remember being so excited and terrified in equal measure! There were so many different buttons, dials and functions that I didn’t quite now where to start.

That’s what I want to help YOU with today.  I’m going to tell you about some quick and simple changes you can make that will help you take better images with your new DSLR.

Here are my recommend first steps with your new camera:

1) Move Your Subject Closer to the Light

Yup, that’s right, your first step has absolutely nothing to do with your camera and more to do with the light that you use with it.

That’s because many people when they are starting out forget the very basic principle of photography – that you need light to take a photograph.

If you are shooting indoors all you need to do is move your subject closer to a window or a door.  To keep things simple for now, the easiest way to take a picture is to have your subject face into the light.  This means you, as the photographer, will have the window at your back and your subject will be facing you. This will give you a nice, simple, even light on your subject that is flattering for everyone and is easy to work with.

As you progress through your photography journey you will want to light your subject in many different ways, but this is a great way to start out!

2) Turn off Your Flash

Now that you have light on your subject, you won’t need to use your flash.

Using your camera’s pop-up flash is deeply unflattering to your subjects – it will make them look drained, washed out, and will give you the dreaded red eye.

For this reason, go into your camera’s settings and turn off your flash – and if you can, never turn it on again.  Always try to seek out more light rather than resorting to flash.

3) Move to Aperture Priority Mode

The next step is to move away from the Auto Mode in your camera, and start to take a little bit of control by switching to Aperture Priority Mode.  On the top of your camera you’ll see that you have either an “A” or an “Av” – that’s Aperture Priority Mode!

This means that you set the Aperture, and the camera will set the other two remaining aspects of exposure (shutter speed and ISO) for you.  I’ve written another post for As Simple As That that goes into this in depth (and you can snag yourself a free cheat sheet whilst you’re at it!) Read the post on how to shoot in Aperture Priority Mode right here.

Making this simple change is going to allow you to blur out your background, which is a great little trick for making your images look more professional by helping bring more attention to your subject.

4) Turn on the Rule of Thirds Grid

Another way to add more impact to your images is to think about the composition of the photo.   Composition is simply how the various elements within your image are arranged, to help make the photo more engaging. The most commonly used composition technique is the rule of thirds.

The rule of thirds imagines that your image is divided into nine equal sections using two horizontal and two vertical lines, as shown by the pink lines on the image below. When taking a picture you simply want to make sure that your subject is along one of the lines, or at a point where the two lines intersect.

Now, that can be tricky to do when you are first starting out, so a useful trick is to turn on the rule of thirds grid overlay feature in your new camera. This will allow you to see the grid in your viewfinder so that you can position your subject along one of the lines when you are taking the photo.

You will need to check your own manual to see exactly how to do this, as it is different for each camera model.  However, in most cases, you simply need to go into to your camera settings menu, where you should see an option for “Grid Display”. Turn that on and you should see a rule of thirds overlay when taking your picture! You can turn this feature off as you progress, but it’s a great little tool for when you are first starting out.

That’s it! Of course, you will want to expand your knowledge and learn everything you can to help you take great photos, but following these four simple steps will have you taking better images from the get go. Enjoy your new camera!

If you enjoyed this post you might also like…

The Secret to Getting Eyes that Pop in Portraits

How to Start a Photography Blog

4 Ways to Get a Blurred Background in Photos