You want to become Instagram famous? Here’s how you become Instagram famous with a not-too-shabby 10,000 likes per photo!

1. Find a cool username (that’s still available)

If you want to raise your Instagram street cred, you must own a username or handle that is as legit as it can get and does not shout “spam” at all. Think of it as your email address—surely you don’t to be known as that girl who goes by the name hotchick307. Be creative! Owning a single-word handle on IG might be too difficult at this time given the massive number of users that have already signed up to this cool photo-sharing platform, so you might want to try adding words and numbers together. Try merging your first name with an adapted word that represents what you love most, like John + film photography = @johnnyfilmo, or sneakily putting in pop culture references, such as John + Game of Thrones fan = @uknownothingjohnsnow

2. Find your niche

In IG, finding your niche means finding the perfect subject that you are confident with in terms of generating tons of content. If you are into modern architecture and your profile says so as well, then make sure the people who’ve hit that follow button on your feed will get exactly what they expected from you—artsy shots of great buildings, that is. If you say you’re into toys, take photos of toys. If you’re into make-up…you get the gist. If you have a quirky but interesting hobby, own it! Be consistent; stay away from selfies (unless you can justify that your duckface should be counted under the #FoodPorn tag). In the process you will be able to find your market that will consume your posts like it’s the best selling artisanal pizza in town.

3. Follow the right people

In IG, there will always be a thin line between those who are pretentious (oh, we all have a friend or two like that on IG), and those who are influential. Follow the influential ones because they can show you how to game the Instagram world. However, follow those who show interest in what you do and show appreciation for their hearts of approval by responding to them. INDIVIDUALLY. Engage with these people regularly so you get shoutouts and quick virtual jabs once in a while. This will make other people notice you and before you know it, you’re en route to building that quasi-cult following on Instagram.

4. Put great content out there for the world to see

Great content on IG does not entirely depend on sunset photos. Follow tip number 2 to heart AND add more by using some of the best photo apps in the entirety of Apple Store and Google Play. Here are some recommendations:

BlendPic – Does exactly what the name says: it blends pics. Perfect if you want to give your landscape photos a trippy feel

PicsArt – Need to edit your photos on a multi-layer approach? This is the perfect app for you. You can put text directly on your photos and it even allows you to overlay other elements on top of your photos. More importantly, you can export your pictures in high resolution jpg file on your device before you upload to Instagram. Think of it as the earliest version of Photoshop or GIMP right on your handheld device!

Square InstaPic – This nifty app lets you upload landscape and portrait shots without having to crop them for Instagram square size.

But of course, form trumps technology any day. You can have the best kind of content out there even without these apps as long as you have something interesting going on in your photos. How about some storytelling ala Humans Of New York? A little humour perhaps, like 9GAG? The possibilities are endless.

5. Build, build, build!

Build a sizeable community of followers that will be with you every photo you make. Do regular promotions on your page; a pair of movie tickets or gift cards on the side won’t hurt. What’s important is you keep your followers hooked, even if there are days wherein you fail to upload something. Ride the trends, too, once in a while. That means listening to what’s happening in the world of Instagram. Click on the popular tag and see what others are doing. Once in a while, be brave and jump the hashtag wave!

6. Make use of Smart’s Free Instagram service

You want to be an Instagram celebrity, right? Then you’ll have to be perpetually active in this space. And this is where being a Smart subscriber puts you at an advantage—you get to enjoy sharing your most meaningful moments (or in your case, your fanbase-building awesome content) daily with up to 200MB of FREE Instagram with Smart’s top Prepaid or Postpaid offers. For prepaid, just dial *121# to register to any top prepaid offers to get FREE 30MB of Instagram everyday. If you’re still a noob on Instagram and don’t know what to do, you can start by sharing your own life story with your personal hashtag #EverydayWith_____ (ex. #EverydayWithJohn) Share your Instagram posts with your personal hashtag along with #SmartFreeIG and get the chance to have your story specially featured by the leading mobile network in the Philippines.

Be free now, Instagram butterfly! Good luck in your quest for super (IG) stardom!