So in this lesson, we're going to look at hashtags. So you may think that hashtags are old school. And of course they are. They've been around on Instagram for as long as Instagram has existed, but they're still a great way to get in front of potential clients. The first hashtag you should be using is your location, plus the word blogger. So for example, when I was living in New York, I'd add hashtag NYC blogger and hashtag NYC bloggers to every post.
Of course, this is really important because that is how a lot of bloggers find other bloggers to follow, and how a lot of bloggers find photographers to work with, they look through these hashtags. And of course, you can use something like hashtag NYC photographer, hashtag New York photographer. All of these hashtags will help you gain people in your area that will follow you, hopefully, different bloggers in your area that will one day reach out to you and ask you to Shoot them. And this is why I'm saying specifically put in your location. Because if you're just using a hashtag, hashtag strong for hashtag blogger, so many people are going to see it, who might love your work, but they're nowhere near you, they're not able to hire you. So you've got to get to the location with your hashtags, with everything you do on Instagram.
And of course, this also works for rural small town photographers. Now that I'm back home in Ireland, I use hashtags dairy blogger on hashtag and I blogger which is short for Northern Ireland blogger doesn't matter where the location of the photo has actually been taken. Use the hashtag the place that you're trying to build a business. Also look at bloggers in your area and see what hashtags they're using. So other ones that are specific to the area but maybe aren't as general as say, hashtag NYC blogger. So perhaps you can find hashtags, other hashtags that are related to New York, that bloggers are Using, for example, hashtag timeout in New York.
That's something I used when I was living in New York. So you have to, of course, spend a little bit of time researching because I don't know what area you live in. I don't know what hashtags are specific to you. But you can pretty much bank on the fact that people in your area are using the name of the town or the name of the city, and the word blogger, so that'll get you started. But definitely route through those hashtags and see what other people in your area using now time for the class project. So in the project section, share two five hashtags that you're going to test out on your next Instagram post.
And of course, you can drop your Instagram handle there if you want to share that as well.