One of the cardinal rules of using a hashtag on instagram is that it has to be specific to the type of image or video you are posting. You want your posts to be found by the right people looking for the right thing because it will help increase the chances of them engaging with you.

That's a no brainer.

But then how do I create Hash Sets? I understand that saving a group of related hashtags makes it easier to copy and paste them for future posts, but how can I create a Hash Set if I don't know exactly what I'll be posting today, tomorrow, or next week?

The short answer should be... You should know what you'll be posting today, tomorrow, next week, or even next month!

What I mean by that is... all of your future posts should be surrounding a particular theme, whether that's travel, food, entrepreneurship, or whatever.

Not just because it makes it easier to save and create Hash Sets, but because it helps increase followership to your content.

I explain more in detail why that is in my article "Your Instagram Profile Page is  a Promise", but in short, sticking to a single theme on your posts allows other people to easily understand what kind of content they will be subscribing to and seeing more of in their feed if they follow you.

Which in turn makes them more likely to follow you if in fact they are a fan of the theme you are portraying with your content.

Which brings us back to the Hash Set.

So if you know what type of content you will be posting for the foreseeable future, which you should because your content should be related to a single theme, then creating Hash Sets should be a breeze because then you can just group related hashtags together that match your theme.

Now the hard part is actually finding some related hashtags

This is where Smarthash can be of real benefit!

With the Smarthash Hashtag Search Page, you can easily search for hashtags and find suggestions for any hashtag.

Grouping them and creating a Hash Set is super easy too. Just select the ones you want and tap the "New Hash Set" button to create a Hash Set with all of the selected hashtags.

And of course this makes it easy to Copy All of them with one tap!

Happy Hashtagging!

Scott Wyden Kivowitz, father, photographer and blogger is the epitome of what Smarthash is all about.

A chaser of dreams and someone who genuinely enjoys what he does and is intent on sharing that experience with others through photography.

Here's what he had to say about Smarthash and how it has helped in his endeavor.

You can also see the full video and transcription on his website.

If you're like me, you're using Instagram partly ( or mainly ) for business.

It has grown to be one of the top contenders for your social media presence and for good reason. Engagement is way higher than Twitter and you have the added benefit of discovery via hashtags.

And although hashtags may seem like the most important factor when growing your followers, I would argue that your actual Instagram Profile Page is The most important factor.

If you imagine Instagram as a funnel in where the goal was to subscribe a person to your email list in order to continue to provide them value, or to sell them something, or whatever it is you are trying to do, then:

A follower on Instagram = An email subscriber
Your Instagram Profile Page = Your Sign Up Page for the email list
A hashtag = Ads, or Links to your Sign Up Page

You can spend hundreds of dollars on ads or have hundreds of links to your Sign Up Page... But if it's ugly or doesn't provide a very clear and concise return for subscribing to the email list, then no one will subscribe.

It' s the same thing with your Instagram Profile Page. If you're not being clear and concise about the return someone will get if they start following you, no one will follow you.

Why do we follow people on Instagram?

We follow them ( mostly ) because we like their posts and we want to see more posts like that in our feed.

The important part to notice here is that "we want to see more posts like that in our feed". 

How exactly are we supposed to know what they're going to post? We're not mind readers!

We know because when we view their Instagram Profile Page, their last 12 posts are them traveling the world, or them painting, or posts about cars, or coffee, or anything!

But it's always the same thing, surrounding one single theme. 

That very specific, concise and consistent theme across their posts is basically a Promise.

It's a Promise that if you follow them, you'll get more posts just like these in your feed.

If your posts are all over the place or are inconsistent,  people won't know what you are in to. Sure you just posted a great photo of something I liked, but how do I know you won't post something the next day that I'll find repulsive?

There's no Promise, no way of knowing what I'll get if I follow you... and so I won't.

But, if your Instagram Profile Page consists of a very concise and consistent theme with your latest posts and bio surrounding and backing up that one single theme... 

You'll be sending out a message, a Promise... Follow me and this is exactly what you'll get. 

And if we like what you're offering... we follow.

Three years ago I quit my job at a startup company.

I thought I was ready.

I learned how to develop websites and apps from scratch, I learned how to think about the numbers... I was ready to start my own company and be my own boss.

Sound familiar?

Fast forward  8 months.  I had 2 failed iOS apps, no income coming in... I was flailing, hard!

I decided at that moment that I had to try something different. My passion was building things and I spent countless hours making sure that the product performed it's best, that it looked great... but I could tell something was missing.

I scrolled through Instagram, trying to distract my mind from the horrible situation I was in when it dawned on me... 

I had spent over 4 years at that startup company honing my skills as a developer, preparing for the moment when I would quit and spend most of my days doing what I love and building the things that I wanted to build...

But being passionate and doing what I loved wasn't enough.

You have to share your passion, so that they can they can share it with others.

In part, I think that's what makes Instagram so unique and special compared to the other social media sites out there.

Picture after picture, it's clear that the people highlighted on Instagram are passionate and are loving what they are doing, whether it's traveling, painting, woodworking, working on their small business, you name it!

They loved what they did, and they shared it with the world.

And it's the latter that I wasn't doing enough of. After all, how can someone know how great your app, product, or service is if they don't know about it?

I had to get the word out, get more visibility, get my work discovered. I had to share what I was passionate about.

And what better way to do that... than on the platform of people who are passionate about what they do... with a tool that can get the word out, that can help with visibility and discoverability.

Of course I am talking about... the Hashtag.

It wasn't long after that that I came up with the idea of Smarthash, an app that helps you discover which hashtags are actually working for you on Instagram.

And I shared my journey of creating it through Instagram, with a little help from hashtags.

Hashtags represent sharing, common ground, love for the same things, and passion.

Hashtags represent community, and can help bring your ideas and products and business to the forefront of people who will love what you are offering.

Because passion isn't enough.

It's not enough to do what you love.

You have to share it with the world.