About 29 years ago I met this guy named Vinnie. He's on the left, i'm on the right and yes, we're on scooters in South Beach. We did that type of stuff back in the day.

The other stuff we did was share a love for music. From the first day I went to his house back in high school and listened to house music classics on vinyl, like this one:

Or high energy classics like this :

And disco classics were always on the turntable, ALWAYS:

But mostly, it was the hip hop that got the party poppin':

Thousands of songs, dozens of genres, there really isn't any music we didn't get down too.....

Fast forward now to 2017.....

Vinnie and I are still great friends and continue to share a love of music except now I own a social media agency and Vinnie launched an Instagram account, featuring all the music he loves on vinyl, called @LoveShackVinyl:

With ZERO social media training or assistance from me, I have watched his Instagram account go from zero to almost 1000 followers in less than three months with HUUUUGE engagement from his followers.

So, how does a social media novice take his love for music on vinyl and build such a loyal and engaged Instagram audience?

By figuring shit out on his own.

What type of shit has Vinnie figured out? I interviewed him and here's what told me:

Will you look at that? With a very basic understanding of Instagram and some common sense, my dude got it.

Yes you are Vinnie 😜

I then asked him what his biggest surprise was once he started to build his vinyl Instagram community.

This is what he told me:

Did you understand what he said? Listen up. There is a very important message here.

My main man Vincenzo figured our that "actual" people make up Instagram communities. Not BOTs or teams of people in far away lands who don't give a crap.

More importantly, he learned, just like in real life, if people really like something, they will get involved and engage.

I know, I know....You are all like, DUH!?!?

But here's the thing, most brands and businesses still don't seem to get this.

Their brains can't get past marketing and advertising, 20th century style.

This 21st century form of marketing still seems strange.

Like building communities of like minded people is a bad thing. It's totally not and can be more powerful than any TV commercial, radio ad or billboard.

Most Instagram users like Vinnie should.

And the better you get building communities on Instagram, the more you see the use for different tools to help your efforts.

In Vinnie's case:

Amazing, right?

I guy that has no real training in social media learning how the pros do it. How does that happen?

When you love doing certain shit, it's fun to get really good at it. Plain and simple.

Vinnie had a love for music on vinyl and wanted to share it with the world. Now he does it almost everyday. God Bless America 🇺🇸

Here are a few Instagram posts his audience loves:

@loveshackvinyl: Tequila n' Lime and everything's fine. Both records are from my #originalcollection....acquired in middle school (late 80's) #nowspinning#Lime #unexpectedlovers

@loveshackvinyl: First spin of #TheBeatles#AbbeyRoad. Exceptional mood setter for tonight. I'm loving the ambient lighting too...no filter or flash was used on this shot. #nowspinning

@loveshackvinyl: Wrapping up the year with some old school country sprinkled with Herb. I just love PatsyCline, 🎶there is no one who can touch her....hell I'll hang on every line. 🎶 #nowspinning#patsycline #willienelson #eltonbritt#herbalpert #classiccountry#outlawcountry

@loveshackvinyl: Feelin a wee bit notorious while I get ready for my hustle this morning. #Nowspinning #NotoriousBig#LimitedEdition Top 10 collaboration's on clear Vinyl. #hiphop #rap #oldschool

@loveshackvinyl: Just acquired this specimen of punk! Such a great album, I can't believe it took me this long to own it. From the hard hitting #LondonCalling to the melodic #LostInASupermarket this record is pure gold. #nowspinning#TheClash Full disclosure....I don't agree with the smashing of bass guitars; so many ppl in this world would love to have one but can't afford it. #notcool 🤓

And there are so many more awesome posts just like the one you saw.....

So what's the moral of this fucking story?

Here it is:

Build communities of like minded people on social media for your brand or business.

NOT communities of people that you JUST want to buy your shit. Sure, many of your followers will buy your shit but first you need to entice them with topics they really like to talk about.

If you are some obscure product based company, find a topic "around your product" NOT "about your product", that people are having conversation about on Instagram.

Perfect example, is a Vinyl record shop starting an account like @LoveShackVinyl

Are you listening????

Good because this kind of information will change your fucking life.

Ok, maybe that went too far but you feel me, right?

David Bowie gets it.

Now the real question is, what will you do with this information?

Are you like a Vinnie, who will do this all by yourself?

Or do you need help from a very successful and experienced social media agency, like Social Babies?

Whatever your deal is, if your brand or business wants an active and engaged Instagram following, do something about it, TODAY!

Last thing, and this is targeted at Vinnie, what's your plan for going live on Instagram?

I'm sure you have some amazing stuff in store for your audience.

We wouldn't expect anything less my man....

OK, I'm about done with this blog post.

Peace out!

#instagram #instagramlivebroadcast #instagramfollowers