(rock music)
- How's it going, everybody?
My name
is Chris Hau,
and I have a verified Instagram account.
I have that little blue check mark,
the sought-after verified account.
It's actually probably the most asked question I get
in my DM is like, oh, how'd you get, how'd you get verified?
How'd you get the blue check mark?
How'd you get verified?
I don't know why people are saying it like that,
but essentially, in this week's video,
I'm gonna tell you my story on how I got verified,
an explanation of what a verification means,
and essentially a few tips
on how you guys could potentially get verified.
PS, it's very hard,
there's gonna be no simple easy way to do this.
But if you guys are down to do the groundwork,
I can give you some tips so hopefully one day
you get that little blue check mark.
So, let's jump into this week's tutorial.
Okay, story time.
So I thought it'd be fun to share with you
how I got my blue verification check mark on Instagram.
And at the time, I only had 10,000 followers.
Now for those of you that don't know,
I also own a marketing agency
and we do a lot of like commercial work
with big brands such as Mercedes-Benz and Corona.
Now it was about two years ago
that I got asked by Mercedes-Benz Canada
to do a takeover on their account.
On this one project we were going across Canada,
and I was the one representing the takeover
and taking photos of their cars
while we traveled across Canada in all these vehicles.
Now how these companies work
is that there is Mercedes-Benz Canada,
there's an agency that represents them,
and then there's another company
that does a lot of like the ad buying.
Now Mercedes-Benz is a very big international brand
that spends a lot of money, especially on advertisements.
And of course, they would be spending money at Facebook
and Instagram, because the two are owned by each other,
so they spend a lot of money on digital ads,
which means they more or less have a connection
directly with Instagram.
Now I kind of had that in mind
and I emailed my contact at Mercedes, and I said,
"Would there be any chance
that you guys could hopefully push forward
the opportunity to get the blue verification on Instagram
since I'm doing a takeover on your account.
Now the benefits that Mercedes-Benz gets
by me having the blue verification check mark
is that no one else can slander their name
during that project.
If I'm doing a takeover
and someone creates a fake Chris Hau account
and then says all this bad stuff about Mercedes-Benz,
it's hard to distinguish which voice it comes from.
But if I have the blue verification,
there's a good chance it wasn't me who was saying it,
so that helps make legitimacy for the takeover.
It also looks good on Mercedes-Benz
because they're hiring top professionals
and Instagram people, so it looks good
for all parties involved, including myself and the company
and the agencies that are involved in this project.
So I sent them the email, they're like,
"Yeah, I think we can possibly make that happen."
And then about a week before the campaign,
I woke up that day and on Instagram, I opened it up, I said,
(hums)
and then I saw it.
I saw the blue check mark, and I was just like,
it worked.
So I'm sure they're a lot of you out there right now
watching this video going, like,
well I don't work for Mercedes-Benz
and I don't have a contact at Instagram to make this happen.
But I think it's important to understand
what that blue check mark really means.
What it means is that you've worked so hard in your career,
whatever your profession is.
Let's say you're a hockey player or a musician or a doctor,
you're some notable person in society
that other people are trying to emulate
or create fake accounts around.
So what that blue check mark is is that yes,
this is the official account of that person,
so if news comes from the official account,
it's probably true and it's real.
So people can't create fake news around you
because you now have that blue check mark.
So how can you guys get that blue check mark?
Now this is no easy task.
This is gonna be a long term goal for you,
but I think if you guys keep it in the back of your mind
while you guys are working on your Instagram account,
there's a chance that one day this could happen for you.
So tip number one is to build a brand
that deserves having that blue check mark.
So this obviously takes a long time.
This is your career that we're talking about.
So whatever your profession is,
make sure that you guys have some notable articles
online that showcase, hey yeah, he gets talked about online
in press and in media outlets.
So start looking up different ways to get featured in press.
I made a video about how to make
viral videos a long time ago
and we talked about how to get press,
so if you guys want to click that video
up here at some point,
you guys can have a good chance
on how to reach out to press, start getting features.
Tip number two is to apply to get verified.
So even within Instagram,
you can go into the account settings
and actually click to try to get verified.
So you're gonna upload, like, your ID
and some content.
Some other stuff around there
so that hopefully Instagram, you know,
will go through your profile one day and be like,
okay cool, that person deserves a blue check mark.
So yes, just apply as often as you possibly can.
And my last tip, which is gonna sound a little contradictory
is just don't care so much about getting it.
You don't need validation from a corporation
to say that your work is good or not.
Having the blue check mark
has not really made that big of a difference for me.
Maybe I've gotten a few other opportunities because of it
or it's made it slightly easier to work with a company,
but at the end of the day the work speaks for itself.
If my pictures weren't good,
people are not gonna wanna work with me.
If my brand wasn't strong,
people are not gonna wanna work with you.
So fall in love with the job,
fall in love with your career, and eventually at some point
you guys will just get it
and it will just be a part of another day for you.
So yeah.
Don't care so much.
It really doesn't matter.
(relaxing music)
And alright guys, that is it.
Hopefully you saw some value in my story
on how I got verified on Instagram
and hopefully you can apply some of these tips
so that you guys could potentially get verified on Instagram
or, you know, if you care about it or not.
Also a quick side note, I'm still hosting my 200 K giveaway.
Thank you guys so much for your support so far,
so if you wanna win a trip to the Azores,
which is in Portugal
and it's also in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean,
and is also one of my favorite spots
on the entire planet to travel to.
Guys, hit up the links below.
You could win a MOZA Air 2, some stuff from PolarPro,
Musicbed, or even Moment and gets your
mobile photography game on point.
And on that note, if you guys saw some value in this video,
please press like.
It actually makes a difference.
Subscribe, would love for you to join along.
I feel like this is all stuff that YouTubers say.
And hit the bell to be notified for future videos,
and thank you guys so much for watching.
I love you, peace out.
I saw, I saw, I don't know if that really turned out.
(both laugh)
This is Lizzie, if you guys don't know Lizzie.
If you follow Lizzie - I'm Lizzie
- that's Lizzie.
Thank you.
- You come take my picture now?
- I gotta go take her picture.
Alright, peace out guys.
(laughter)