So what the heck is a pod anyway? A pod is simply a private group conversation through direct messaging that is used to communicate when you post new content to your Instagram or Facebook account.
When you post new content, you alert the pod members of your new post. Within the next few hours the pod members will visit your new post, like it, and leave a comment. The purpose of all this is to show the algorithm that your content is popular and that it should push the post to a larger percentage of your followers.
There are mixed opinions about pods. Some advise not to use them, and some say they are a great way to gain engagement. My personal experience is that pods did help me to grow my Instagram account. Whether they will hurt my account in the long run, I can’t say. I do know that since I left all of the pods, my engagement is definitely lower and my account is growing more slowly.
However, I’m not here today to talk about whether pods are good or bad or how well they work. I am here to talk about what I learned from participating in pods.
Like I said, I was a member of several different pods. Some were with photographers from all over the world. It’s easy to like and leave comments on your fellow photographers images and posts when they live halfway across the country. But what if they were your local competition?
A few years ago, I created a Facebook group for local photographers only. It’s a really great group and lots of friendships have been made. It’s now grown to about 300 members and we even have meetups sometimes. It’s actually pretty drama free since the people are all local to each other. It’s different when you are talking to a person just right down the road from you. Anyway, we had this idea that if we created a facebook and instagram pod including only us locals, we would attract more local people to our pages and our work.
Once we got started and it came time to actually start complimenting and lifting up my local competitors, doubt started to creep in…
Am I going to lose clients because of this?
Are my current clients going to find a new photographer through my interactions?
Am I leading potential clients right to my competitors?
At first, it was really hard to comment on my local fellow photographers posts. But over time, it became easier. And you know what happened to my business when I lifted up my fellow photographers? Nothing. Not one thing changed that I was aware of. My clients didn’t all run away to the competition.
You know what did change? My attitude about praising my competitors. It actually made me feel good to compliment my colleagues. You know that saying, “we rise by lifting others”? It’s so true!
Never be afraid to leave a nice or uplifting comment on another photographers work. It can only make the photography community a better place!
Finding Magic Photography Education 