Instagram has always been an almost exclusive mobile platform. Therefore, you must download the iPhone or Android app to your device in order to register an Instagram account from the app store on your phone. If anything make sure you go and make sure your model name is available and reserve it before anyone takes it.

Like Facebook, Instagram does not allow nudity so you need to get creative with your photos and video.

Instagram accounts are public by default, but you may elect to create a private account. In that case, only users who you approve may follow you and view your photos. Head to your profile tab and scroll down to “Privacy.” There, you may select to make photos private. We don't suggest this though because you are limiting a large following. Making your profile private also does not mean you can start posting nudity. Instagram admin will find you and delete your account. Your username will be gone forever and you will not be able to get it back… EVER!

Once registered, change your profile picture and edit your profile information, which includes a brief 150-character bio and a website.

Because Instagram is a relatively isolated social app that lives inherently on mobile, it’s important to connect social accounts to get the most out of the experience. You may choose to link Instagram to your Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Tumblr, and Flickr accounts. It would be silly to not do this! It’s really up to you! Just keep in mind that nowadays people are very much against being spammed and WILL unfollow you if they feel like they are having your products shoved in their faces. Most likely if they are following you on one platform they are following you on them all. Pick and choose where you want your photos to go without it sending out to all of the sites at once.

To connect social accounts, head to the Profile Tab > Edit Sharing Settings, then choose the network you wish to connect.

Each time you upload a photo to Instagram, you’ll have the option to share to each of the social networks you’ve enabled, or to none. If you choose to share to no social networks, the photo will post only to Instagram, viewable only by those users who follow you on the app.

The bread and butter of Instagram are, obviously, sharing photos. Before you explore much else, I suggest you test it out.

Click the blue camera button in the center of your Instagram navigation panel. By default, Instagram activates your device’s camera, so you may either choose to snap a picture or take a 15 second video then and there, or choose a picture or video already saved to your phone. If you choose the latter, click the double-square button on the lower-left of the screen.

If you choose a photo from your camera roll, keep in mind that Instagram sizes photos to perfect squares. Therefore, if you select a photo that was originally taken horizontally (landscape), you’ll have to crop some portions of the image — either that, or live with the default black border.

Once your photo is ready to go, click the green checkmark. This brings you to the social sharing screen.

If you wish, add a caption explaining what you’ve photographed, an anecdote, or really anything your social networks would enjoy. Feel free to add category hashtags and @mention people, especially if you plan to share via Twitter. The caption will be the text of the tweet, and the app will file hashtags and @mentions accordingly.

If you’ve enabled location services, you even have the option to tag where you took the photo.

Then, depending on what networks you’ve linked to Instagram, toggle the accounts to share across those platforms.

The way your photo appears when posted depends on the style of the social network to which you post. For instance, if you share to Twitter, Instagram tweets a link to your photo, along with the text you choose as the caption. Instagram photos appear natively on Twitter.com, which means you don’t even have to click the link to view someone’s photo — you may simply expand the tweet to view directly. When sharing to Facebook, your Instagram photo will appear in the news feed with the attached caption.

Like all social media, interacting with the community is the most important part about growing your brand using Instagram…and this means investing in beautiful, high-quality shots that users can’t see anywhere else.

If you are sharing photos that your audience could easily see on your website, then you will fail. Instead, share photos that engage your audience in a way that allows your customers to experience your brand.