How to Become Instagram Famous in 7 Easy Steps in 2021

So, you want to know how to become Instagram famous? Well you’ve come to the right place, because after twenty minutes thousands of hours of very intense research and studying the Instagram explore page, we’ve finally cracked the formula to being Instafamous.

How To Become Instagram Famous

It’s super complex, but luckily for you we’ve broken it down into 7 easy-to-follow steps to help you get on the path to resort sponsorships, getting free dresses in the mail and finally being able to call yourself an influencer.

Let us give a full disclaimer – becoming Instafamous isn’t a walk in the park. It involves telling all your followers how hard you actually work, using hashtags like #couplegoals, and making sure you respond to every comment you get with love heart emojis.

It’s literally a full-time job. Think you can handle it?

I’m Ready to be Instagram Famous!

If you think you’re up for the challenge, you’ll be rewarded with a big number next to your name on an app and the ability to tell your grandkids that once upon a time, you too were a Kardashian – famous for not really doing anything of substance.

Without further ado, here is our revolutionary and very detailed guide on how to become Instagram famous.

Step 1 – Be a Young, Good-Looking Couple

We have bad news for you – if you’re not young, tall and skinny, you’ll never be Instagram famous. If you just look like an average human being, or have a bit of a beer gut, it’s time to give up the dream of being Instafamous and perhaps consider starting a travel blog instead.

But if you do happen to have abs like a washing board, long blonde hair and a golden tan you’re half way there. Now you just need to find a partner who is equally as beautiful (and doesn’t mind flaunting their body as much as you do, ideally with very little clothes on).

Congratulations! You’ve been blessed with the first attributes required to be famous on Instagram, without actually having to do anything other than being born with good genes and signing up for a CrossFit gym. It’s time for the next step to becoming Instafamous.

Note: If you don’t find someone who is as conceited gorgeous as you, never fear, there’s still a chance to become Instagram famous. You just need to post lots of photos of yourself holding puppies in your swimwear.

How To Become Instafamous
Unfortunately we’re not very good looking, so we have to post photos of the back of our heads if we want any chance at being Instafamous.

Step 2 – Move to Bali

Ahh yes, Bali. The place that Instagram invented purely for travel couples to move to, eat Buddha bowls and sign up to overpriced co-working spaces.

The fact of the matter is you just can’t be Instafamous if you don’t live in Bali. It’s statistically impossible. I mean, how can you expect to get all those likes and comments if you’re not posting a photo of your $20 floating breakfast every other day?

Once you’ve quit your 6-figure job in public relations you need to get a one-way ticket to Bali so that you can get a head start on your new Instagram career.

Rent a private villa with a pool in Canngu (or possibly Ubud, but only so you can tell everybody how you connect more with the spirituality there), spend your days sharing photos of your laptop on Instagram Stories so that your followers know that you’re actually ‘working’, then at sunset get out and start shooting!

At first it’ll be hard because you’ll have to battle with the other hundreds of Instagram couples taking photos at waterfalls, on swings hanging from palm trees and in the rice fields (did you know that the Balinese actually built those rice paddies purely for Instagrammers?), but eventually you’ll end up with the same 10 shots, but with different poses and angles so that you can flood your Instagram feed for months.

Step 3 – Look in Love!

You’ve successfully moved to Bali with your sexy AF partner and are now ready for the third step in becoming Instagram famous – letting the entire world know that you are in love! 

It’s time to start getting those fabulous shots that other couples who are stuck working 9-5 only wish they could have on their social media. The trick is to be constantly in each other’s embrace, or be reaching out for your partner’s hand, or be gazing lovingly across your floating breakfast at each other.

It’ll take a lot of practice, and in the early days you’ll probably have to learn to use a tripod because you can’t afford a full-time photographer to follow you around, but stick with it, because #couplegoals.

The whole point is to make every other couple in the world feel inferior to you. I mean, if they’re not as good looking as you are and can’t nail those same 5 modelling poses every shot, they may as well get a divorce, right? What are they even doing on Instagram anyway? Oh yea, following you, because you’re Instafamous.

Dancing In Ireland
Us trying to look in love by pretending to know how to dance. But we messed up and did this in a hotel room in Ireland, which isn’t very Instagrammable, and we didn’t get many likes. #epicfail

Step 4 – Make Some Presets That are Almost Exactly the Same as Everybody Else’s

Ok, you have your collection of Gram-worthy pics that you’re ready to publish to the world, but there’s just one issue – they look kinda…lame.

Never fear! Luckily Lightroom presets are here to save the day.

The first thing you need to do is buy some presets off of another Instagram couple. They’ll give your pics that dreamy effect at a click of a button, which will make your feed completely lit.

Now tweak them ever so slightly. Just enough so that you can call them your own. Save them, and only EVER use those presets, no matter what. You’re stuck with them forever now. That’s your brand, no point trying something new.

You’re not done yet though! You can’t just go throwing up whatever photo you want willy nilly. Are you insane? No, you have to carefully curate your grid, planning at least 18 photos in advance so you know what order to upload and keep that grid looking mint. One wrong upload, and you’re back to that office job.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Beux8gFA2P-/

Step 5 – Write Captions That Are ‘Inspiring’

“You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” 

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”

“The stars shine brighter when I am with you.”

Ahh, I’m getting all the feels just reading those lovey dovey captions! ALL. DEM. FEELS.

The next step is to learn how to write captions that give the perception that your love for each other is stronger and more authentic than just about anybody else on the planet. Because it is. 

But you don’t want to alienate your followers either, because without them you won’t get any dress sponsors, so make sure you finish every caption with how if you can do this, anybody can, because you bravely escaped your old middle-class life in a first world country after putting your two investment properties on AirBnB.

Don’t forget to occasionally mention that every now and then you argue with your soul mate, because you’re just a normal couple too, but then you quickly make up because life is too short to hold grudges and your love for each other is bigger than the universe. Aww, why can’t every relationship be so amazing? Insert love heart emoji.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BfLIVF-gOWg/

Step 6 – Only Travel to Instagrammable Places

By now you should have at least 50’000 followers (if you don’t, go buy more floating breakfasts, yo!), and it’s time to take the biggest step of your new career and start venturing outside of Bali.

But where to go? Hmmm….

The next secret to being Instafamous is to only travel to countries that have guaranteed Instagram-worthy locations. I’m talking waterfalls in the Philippines. Hot air balloons in Cappadocia. Morocco and its sand dunes and blue-painted city Ch..Chahs…Chawoof, ahh whatever it’s called, doesn’t matter, just make sure you pack a yellow dress.

Take a quick trip to India to see the Taj Mahal as well. Guaranteed likes there.

Holy crap, you see that? You’ve just cracked 100’000 followers! Congratulations, you’re Instafamous! Happy days, let’s do a little dance (make sure you document it on Insta Stories though and say how you wouldn’t be where you are today without your loving family/tribe of anonymous followers on an app).

But you’re not finished yet. It’s time to cement yourself in the Instagram Couple Hall of Fame. It’s time to head to the Maldives!

Wait, what? Isn’t the Maldives expensive?? I know what you’re saying – you can’t afford it. But never fear, valued member of my Insta Tribe. You’ll get it sponsored by some resort who desperately wants to show off how Instagrammable their place is.

If you’re really lucky you might even get invited to that place in Africa where the giraffes lean through the window and try to steal your breakfast. Thank God someone else is paying though, cause that breakfast ain’t cheap. Gramtastic.

Once you’ve done your circumnavigation of the globe, being careful to never step foot in a country that won’t give you an abundance of online engagement, you can head back to Bali and start to plan the exact same trip over and over again.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bi1fCpXgY9K/

Step 7 – Sell Your Presets and Call Yourself an Entrepreneur

By now you’ve come across a harsh truth – Instagram doesn’t actually pay you any money for posting to their app every single day. In fact, they don’t give a shit about you.

And all those flights you just bought cost more money than you’re willing to admit, even though you pretended airlines were sponsoring you every step of the way. And while free dresses are nice, they don’t pay the Buddha bowl bills or co-working space membership.

So how the hell do you use your new Instafame to get rich now?

Remember those presets you made a couple of months ago? Start selling them like crazy! Mention them in every single post and Insta Story you publish. Hell even make up a new account and hashtag for them. Because nothing screams originality and creativity quite like getting the masses to make their pictures look exactly the same as yours.

Now that you have literally (not literally) thousands of dollars rolling in to supplement your AirBnB income, it’s time to start calling yourself a public figure or an entrepreneur, because that’s a buzzword, and everybody wants to be a buzzword.

Congratulations, sexy travel couple – you are now officially Instafamous! 

Ready for the Future

Who knows what the future holds? Probably a short-lived YouTube channel (until you realise that making videos is hard and time-consuming, and requires you to actually be able to string a sentence together), then you’ll get married, have a kid, and try to copy the Bucket List Family.

Eventually Instagram will be replaced with the next big social media platform (whatever happened to MySpace and Vine anyway?), but you’ll be too much in denial to act on it in time. Soon you’ll become obsolete, but it doesn’t matter, because you’ll always be able to say you were once famous on the Interwebz for being young and good looking, and doing the exact same thing every other Instagram couple does.

And if all else fails, and you run out of ideas, you can always become a travel blogger…

If you enjoyed our guide on how to become Instagram famous, make sure you swing by our own Instagram account and give us a follow! We kinda suck at it though, and we don’t heed our own advice, so you probably won’t see us posing in bikinis or taking pictures of floating breakfasts. Oh and we don’t live in Bali. Sorry.

This article is meant to be a joke, and is in no way a personal attack on any particular person, couple or Instagrammer. If you’re triggered by this, don’t take life so seriously…

Alesha and Jarryd

Alesha and Jarryd

Hey! We are Alesha and Jarryd, the award-winning writers and professional photographers behind this blog. We have been travelling the world together since 2008, with a passion for adventure travel and sustainable tourism. Through our stories and images we promote exciting off-the-beaten-path destinations and fascinating cultures as we go. As one of the world's leading travel journalists, our content and adventures have been featured by National Geographic, Lonely Planet, CNN, BBC, Forbes, Business Insider, Washington Post, Yahoo!, BuzzFeed, Channel 7, Channel 10, ABC, The Guardian, and plenty other publications. Follow our journey in real time on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram.

Hi, We’re Alesha and Jarryd!

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36 thoughts on “How to Become Instagram Famous in 7 Easy Steps in 2021”

  1. This is gold.

    I’m not sure you mentioned doing yoga on the beach in your bikini though, preferably something that’s 2cm of fabric from being softcore porn.

  2. Totally Spot On!! I let my Insta account be just me – totally spontaneous, unedited, flimsy most times and simply don’t follow others for the sake of it! Damn I got to be a little more strategic now…Which reminds me I have been to Bali a few years back but not a single picture on Instagram :O Whaaat….running to Insta…bye!
    – Divs

  3. I totally loved reading this guide!!! Soooo funny yet true! Hilarious!!

    Always love your style of writing!

    Cheers from Jasper, Canada

    • Thank you so much Sabine. We appreciate it. Hope it hasn’t been too cold for you over there. We miss Canada and we were just there last month.:)

  4. haha this is hilarious. Love this article, got a good chuckle from us. I do appreciate the honesty and rawness though, very well put!

    • Thanks so much for reading Christopher. 🙂

  5. I think I’m doing it wrong…
    Fat, old and moved to the cold island of Tasmania. I also caption badly and don’t like presets. (Because all photos are different)

    • Tasmania has epic nature, gorgeous hikes and stunning beaches. What a place to in. You have the best instagram style….. realistic. Thanks for reading.

  6. Bloody awesome article. We suck at Instagram, must be the lack of Buddha bowls…

    • Thanks for reading Josh. Get into those Buddha bowls. 😉

  7. So funny! I thought it was a serious post at first and realised we were doomed to being #Instanonymous from the very first point
    We’ve had a few months off travelling and social media, and it’s been wonderful! No pimping for likes or feeling despondent when losing followers… I prefer my world to be realistic, and not seen through a preset. You guys rock

    • Hi Mandy, that would be amazing to be offline for a while and have a digital detox. Bet you feel great. Realistic is better. Thank you so much for reading.

  8. This is hilarious and relatable too! Keep it up! Next we want to know how become famous in YouTube.

    • Thanks so much for reading Anwesha. 🙂

  9. This was excellent!! I loved the comment about the yellow dress because I just knew exactly ‘the photo’ you were talking about lol.
    Sitting here in my flat in Namibia I feel very far away from the Instagram perfect world. But I wouldn’t exchange khakis in the Bush for a bikini in Bali any day lol

    • Thanks for reading Stacey. Definitely don’t exchange that khakis for a bikini. Do what you want, not what others expect. We’d love to visit Namibia one day. It is on our list. 🙂

  10. Haha, this post was hilarious and so well written at the same time! You guys write what a lot of people think, we feel just the same way about the whole IG game, but maybe that’s why we don’t have a killer beach body and my skin tone doesn’t match with a pineaple in my hand. Thanks for making me laugh, I genuily enjoyed this post.

    • Thanks for reading Mat and Mieke. Us neither, but we still love the beach and pineapples. 🙂

  11. Oh man this was fantastic!! You guys are the best. I don’t remember reading about floppy hats though, can you really be insta famous without a floppy hat?

    • Thank you so much Katrina. No you definitely need that floppy hat. 🙂

  12. In one word: ingenious!

    • Thanks Werner!

  13. This is so hilarious! As I continued reading, more and more couples came to my mind that are doing this..how sad.

    Glad we’re on the same boat of experiences over stuff.

    PS: we’ve made it to Bali once (that’s more than enough) and seeing people rushing from one place to another and line up for poses was just ridiculous.

    • Thanks for reading Maya! Experiences over pretty pictures any day!

  14. hahahaha spot on guys!
    ….see you at the infinity pool for a sunset cocktail later!? 😉

    • I’ll bring my tripod and floppy hat!

  15. hahaha great post guys! Thanks for always being real!

    • Thanks for reading mate!

  16. I’m totally on the same page, but, I think step 6 ought to read: By now you should have at least 50’000 followers (if you don’t, go buy more, yo!)

    • Haha, too true!

  17. Hahaha, seriously this is amazing, the way you put out all the steps, just cant stop laughing.
    So no one really need to have to travel much or put little effort in getting to know other cultures amd still be called an influenzaaaaa, traveller, blah blah, wow.. 😉
    All it needs is a few staged pics and voila…..

    • Thanks so much for reading! And no need to travel unless it’s purely for the ‘Gram now!

  18. Great article! Can you do this trip with me? Otherwise I have no lovely goog looking partner to become instafamous.

    Best regards
    Ulrike

    • Yes! Together we can be #Instafamous!

  19. I fucking love you guys.

    • Love you back!

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