Supporting other business owners does not necessarily mean buying their products or services. Maybe you have a friend who is a web designer, but you don’t need a website or you already have one. Maybe you have a friend who sells beauty products, but you don’t need anything right now. This does not mean you cannot show your support!

Here at Girlcrush Collective, we’re all about women supporting women, so we’ve put together a list of easy ways to support your friends’ blogs or businesses on Instagram, without spending any money.

Here are some simple ways to support others on Instagram:

Follow them and like their posts

This one really goes without saying. Follow their Instagram account and like their posts! This is especially important at the beginning of their venture. When starting out, business owners and bloggers will have small followings and rely on friends and family as their main engagement on Instagram.

Comment on their posts

Follows and likes are great, but comments are huge! Even just a few words related to their post will help. This kind of quality engagement lets Instagram know that it is a good post that others are resonating with, so be sure to leave a comment when you see a new post!

Share their posts to your story

This is the virtual way of recommending someone to your own audience. Even if you just use Instagram for personal use and don’t have a ton of followers, this still provides quality exposure. You never know if your followers are looking for something that can be provided by your friend!

Shout them out in your stories

Similar to the previous tip, shout them out in your stories. This does not necessarily need to be you sharing a post of theirs to your story, even just a text post telling your followers about them can be beneficial!

Tag friends who may be interested in their business

If you have a friend who is a wedding photographer and another friend who just got engaged, tag them in the wedding photographer’s post! This is a simple, free way for you to help out two friends! Don’t underestimate the effect that tagging a friend in a post can have.

Tag friends who may be interested in their blog

If you have a friend who has a travel blog and another friend who is about to backpack across Europe, tag them in the travel bloggers posts! It’s beneficial for both friends and takes less than a minute of your time.

Recommend them to others

This one goes beyond Instagram. If it comes up in conversation with someone, mention them. You don’t necessarily need to tag your newly engaged friend in your wedding planner friend’s post. If you’re with them and they are talking about planning their wedding, mention your other friend’s name!

Similarly, if you’re with your friend who is about to travel to Europe, let them know the name of your other friend’s blog or Instagram account so they can get any of their tips or suggestions before they go! Word-of-mouth is one of the oldest marketing strategies in the book, but it is still incredibly effective. We trust our friends, therefore we tend to trust their suggestions over commercial marketing.

Save their posts

Saving Instagram posts (clicking the little flag icon on the bottom right of a post) is a valuable way to engage with posts. While others may not know that you saved it (i.e. it’s not public the way that likes and comments are) it still tells Instagram that it is a good post.

Remind them that you are proud of them

Small compliments and reminders that you’re proud of and impressed by your friend’s blog or business is huge. It’s very common for business owners and bloggers to have days where they feel discouraged and want to just throw in the towel, so you never know how badly your friend may need to hear some words of encouragement. Also, we tend to only share the good things on social media, especially when representing a business, so it’s always good to check in and make sure your friends are doing well.

Supporting your friends businesses or blogs does not have to be hard, expensive, or time-consuming. These are all simple ways to show your support, even if their blog or business is not necessarily relevant to you personally!

Do you have any other suggestions for supporting your friend’s ventures? Let us know in the comments!

Xx,
Katie