An Interview With Liz Eswein, Instagram User-Turned-Entrepreneur; Just a couple of years after she first opened an Instagram account, Liz Eswein has built a successful business on helping brands use the service

DECEMBER 26, 2013, 6:09 PM

An Interview With Liz Eswein, Instagram User-Turned-Entrepreneur

By NICK BILTON

We often read about how the founders of start-ups become rich and famous, but sometimes, users of new web services also find a way to benefit financially. Take Liz Eswein. Just a couple of years ago, she signed up to Instagram while a senior at New York University. Then she managed to turn that account into an Instagram-based business called The Mobile Media Lab, which has generated more than $1 million in revenue by helping brands use the service. The following is an edited interview with Ms. Eswein.Q. How did you learn about Instagram?

A. From you! I was sifting through my Twitter feed in 2011 and found an article that the @NYTimesBits Twitter account tweeted out and decided to sign up and try it out.

Q. What was the first thing you shared on Instagram?
A. Bacon and eggs!

Q. Why did you pick the name @NewYorkCity?
A. I don’t really know. I think it was more sort of a happy accident. I had always planned on just sharing photos that I was already taking of the city, and not so much personal photos. Somehow @newyorkcity was still available.

Q. You now have more than one million followers. Do you find yourself over-thinking the photos you post?
A. I just post what I like, and sometimes that doesn’t necessarily resonate well with my audience. But that’s O.K., because I still like it.

Q. How did this turn from a hobby into a business?
A. When I was at N.Y.U., and started using Instagram, I got terribly sick with Lyme disease and was unable to sustain a regular 9-to-5 job. During this time my audience continued to grow and brands started reaching out, asking me to cover an event on Instagram. I had been in touch with two others from the Instagram community, Anthony Danielle and Brian DiFeo, and we decided to form a company to shape the way brands were working on Instagram. Being able to turn this into a business is something that I’m infinitely grateful for.

Q. Do you have funding?
A. We co-founded the company in March 2012 with zero outside funding. We have since reached a million dollars in revenue in a little under a year and a half.

Q. What type of clients do you work with?
A. All kinds. Tech companies, like Samsung; hotel groups, including Starwood Hotels; fashion brands, including Coach, Burberry and Nike; and auto companies including Jaguar and Honda. We also help photo-editing apps. Then we utilize our network of 200-plus influencers across the world to work on these campaigns.

Q. And what do you actually do for these companies?
A. We offer event coverage, account takeovers, guest photography, contests, photo-walks and product promotion. We also manage accounts for brands, which entails creating content, posting and engaging with potential followers to grow their following. So, we play a bunch of different roles.

Q. What’s been your favorite project so far?
A. Going to Africa! It was an unbelievable opportunity to be able to travel to Namibia, paid for by the country’s tourism board. It was a 10-day trip and my sole responsibility was to simply share my experience on Instagram — isn’t that crazy? I pinch myself a lot knowing that this is actually my job.

Q. When you look back at your first picture, did you ever imagine you’d be doing this for a living?
A. No way! That being said, I always kept my account branded as simply @newyorkcity as I didn’t want the account to be about me, what I was wearing that day or where I was eating — although little inklings of myself seep through in certain captions.

Q. What’s your tip for taking a great Instagram photo?
A. I don’t know if I necessarily have a tip. Just practice, practice, practice and draw inspiration from other talented photographers. My pictures were terrible when I first started and sometimes I cringe when I look at them, but it’s interesting to see the evolution for me and the people I follow.

Q. Any parting words, or photos?
A. I just feel extremely lucky to be able to do what I’m doing and It’s been so interesting to see and experience the evolution of Instagram in just these two to three years. There’s a whole psychological element to the app in terms of what users are consuming and how they feel connected to the content that they’re seeing — and that’s something that I really find fascinating.