Hitting 1,000 Followers (and Why That’s Not the Whole Story)

Last month, I finally hit 1,000 followers on Instagram.

It wasn’t one of those squealing, jumping-up-and-down moments, it was more of a “finally” moment. I’d been sat in the 900s for what felt like forever, refreshing my profile every now and then and getting increasingly fed up with waiting. But when that number finally tipped over into four digits, it was a nice feeling.

That’s 1,000 people who like what I post. Many of them are my clients. Many of them are just curious creatives or lovely locals who stumbled across my page and decided to stick around. Either way, 1,000 humans choosing to follow along is something I’m grateful for.

The Comparison Trap

Now here’s the tricky part, as a small business owner, I compare myself to others all the time. And not even just the people doing the same kind of work as me. I’ll look at other creatives with totally different services and think:

• What are they doing that I’m not?

• Why don’t I have that many followers?

  
  

It’s so easy to get caught up in this idea that “if I just had more followers, all my problems would be solved”; more clients, more sales, more everything. But the truth is, follower count doesn’t always translate directly into business success.

If scrolling through Instagram and seeing someone else’s growth makes you spiral, there’s no shame in muting them for a while. (I think Instagram calls it “quiet mode” or something like that.) You’ve got to protect your own peace. It’s hard to be the supportive girlie you want to be when this whole system is built to pit us against each other.

The Real Wins

You know what actually feels incredible? Getting a DM from someone who wants to work with you.Getting a random email from a client who’s found you through your posts.Seeing 20 new followers pop up in a week.

Those moments, no matter how small, are what remind me why I keep showing up.

My Advice to Anyone Starting Out

• Keep posting and keep showing up.

• Be 100% yourself, in your captions, in your messages, in your comments.

• Don’t stress if a post gets barely any likes. Social media isn’t a guarantee that every post will hit. It only takes one person seeing one post at the right time for an opportunity to come your way.

• And remember: just because people aren’t liking or commenting doesn’t mean they’re not noticing. I’ve had clients bring up posts I didn’t even know they’d seen.

  
  

My Journey in Numbers

I started my business socials in February 2024 with zero followers. Now it’s August 2025 and I’m at 1,056. The growth hasn’t been explosive, it’s been slow, steady, and real.

My turning points?

• Friends and family following me early on.

• Sharing my business posts on my personal stories to get the word out.

• Consistently posting, even when engagement was low.

  
  

Because at the end of the day, your online presence is like planting seeds, it might take a while before you see anything sprout, but the effort is worth it.