Ebook: Hashtag authentic: finding creativity and building a community on Instagram and beyond

Instagram is the fastest growing social media platform, with 400 million monthly active users worldwide, half of them under 25. While some of these people use the app as a personal tool, many also use it to build their creative business endeavours, from food and drink to fashion and lifestyle.

Sara Tasker has tapped into this as an Instagram coach, an iPhoneographer and social media influencer. Her chronicle of authentic everyday life and her mindfulMe and Orlablog has developed into a business in which she allows access to free insta-tips, alongside some hugely popular paid for e-courses for independent creatives.

One of her followers, Emma Mitchell a jewellery designer and artist, took her Instagram following (silverpebble2) from several hundred to 87k and gained a book commission within a year.