weworewhat | InstagramIn this series, Instagram Icon, Entrepreneur speaks with the individuals behind popular Instagram accounts to find out the secrets of their success.
Six years ago, after transferring from University of Wisconsin, Madison to FIT in New York City, fashion blogger Danielle Bernstein decided to launch her now well-known blog WeWoreWhat. After taking photos of her friends’ outfits, Bernstein decided to “flip the camera” on herself. It turns out, her thinking was spot on. People were hooked by her chic, personal style, and pretty quickly her following grew.
Related: This Instagrammer With More Than 2 Million Followers Literally Cooks Her Content
Shortly after starting her blog, Bernstein expanded her reach and tapped into Instagram in 2010. Fast-forward seven years, and today when people think of a fashion blogger, usually one of the first names that comes to mind is WeWoreWhat’s Bernstein. With an Instagram following of more than 1.7 million, a knack for fashion and solid business skills, Bernstein has leveraged her blog and social media channels to launch a full-fledged business that includes ecommerce, editorial and social.
Of course, it’s not easy running an account with nearly 2 million followers, on top of an actual business. We caught up with Bernstein to learn how she’s used Instagram to boost her business and her tips for success on the photo-sharing platform.
How did you get your start with Instagram?
WeWoreWhat started as a street style blog while I was at FIT six years ago. I had just transferred from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and was blown away by the difference in how girls dressed for school. I started taking photos for outfit inspiration for my friends back at Wisconsin. Eventually I flipped the camera around and started showing my own personal style and realized it resonated with people. This was right around the time that Instagram was becoming popular, so it just made sense to begin posting on there, as well as my blog.
I started Instagram [in 2010] just around the time that it launched. I think the first picture I ever posted was my 18th birthday cake — it was so poorly edited and didn’t have any great casting or hashtags. But obviously as the business and the blogging industry grew, I learned the way and we kind of made up the rules as we went along. Then it became part of my business.
What other platforms do you use and what percentage of the time do you spend on them vs. Instagram?
I used to use Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook and WordPress, which is where my blog is hosted, but now it’s mainly WordPress [for] my blog [and] Instagram. Sometimes we forward things onto Twitter and Facebook. I don’t use Pinterest anymore for my social following, [it’s] kind of just more personal.
I think most people check Instagram more than they check anything else. Now that you can do Instagram Stories, it took out the need for Snapchat, even though I still use Snapchat for some things. But I love that it’s a good mix. Your Instagram Stories can kind of be this reality TV version of your life and then your Instagram page, for me, is more editorial, a little more clean cut and looks more like a news feed.
[Instagram] is where a grew the…
