In Conversation with Meharyar Khan from Jokeshub

Meharyar Khan is a graduate of LUMS who started his own meme page a few years back not knowing the power social media has. Now in 2020, his page Jokeshub stands at a whopping 1.2 million making him amongst the few people in Pakistan to have such a huge following.

With a full-time job, Meharyar Khan does struggle but shares his ways of managing and also earning from his page. He also shares many more tips and tricks that can help you in increasing your followers as well as your engagement.

Q1. How did you come up with a meme page like Jokeshub? What was your idea behind it?

Ans. When I discovered the username ‘Jokeshub’, I immediately switched the username of my account because I felt I could build a community around ‘Jokeshub’ with like-minded people who enjoy watching funny pictures and videos on their feeds. The name Jokeshub is supposed to give the image of being the best single source of comedic content online.

Q2. What is the reason behind keeping your Instagram page private?

Ans. This is a question a lot of people ask me, the reason most big Instagram pages are private is that private accounts gain more followers than public ones. Let’s say a friend of yours sends you a meme from Jokeshub, if public, you would just look at the meme and react to it without following the page. However, if private, you would have to follow Jokeshub and wait for me to accept you in order to see the meme. This way, Instagram pages gain more followers when private.

Q3. Since you’ve been running your page for quite a few years, what tactics have you learned to grow your page that you’d like to share with us?

Ans. Honestly, now more than ever, there are A LOT of ways to grow your account. Some of these are Shoutout for Shoutout, Reply for Reply, and Mega posts. However, these are tactics that you can use once your account has a few thousand followers. For any new page, I would suggest just one should try to get featured on the Explore page. One of the oldest and most common ways that big pages gain followers is the Shoutout for Shoutout method. In this method, you collaborate with a page of a similar size to yours and you both promote each other on your pages through promotional pictures or videos that you make for your page. This way people on two pages share their followers with each other and grow collaboratively.

Q4. How do you keep coming up with original content?

Ans. Although I did start off with original content, I no longer post it because the Instagram algorithm requires me to post several times a day in order to maintain the activity on my page. Therefore, I usually look for and post newer content that goes with the current trends on the internet.

Q5. How does this page help you in earning a livelihood?

Ans. Once your page is big enough, it’s easy to monetize it. I have sold advertisements on Jokeshub to many online businesses, mobile phone applications, E-commerce stores, and public figures/personalities. Bigger meme pages than mine have clients as big as Fashion Nova, Tik Tok, and Sony, etc. Apart from this, once you are in the community, you will find a lot of people who would be willing to buy shoutouts from you, even if it is for their own meme pages.

Q6. How did you manage to run a page and also study at the same time? Did you require any help from family or friends in this matter?

Ans. Since most of my followers are from the USA, I haven’t had to work much during classes due to different time zones. However, this also meant that I had to work till late at night and often wouldn’t be able to show up for morning classes. To cover up, my friends had always been very supportive in this regard as they helped me catch up and prepare for any quizzes or exams. My parents, although skeptical at first about me spending so much time on my phone and staying up all night, slowly became more understanding and accepting of it.

Q7. What are a few basic tips that one must follow if they want to start a meme page or just any page in general?

Ans. I can see the trend of blogging on the rise in Pakistan, however, I don’t see these bloggers collaborating with each other much. It really doesn’t matter if the other blogger is not catering to the same niche as you since people following makeup bloggers can be foodies as well and will probably end up following a food blogger upon collaboration. Even though I own a comedy meme page, I have collaborated with pages in the horror niche and still gained a lot of followers.

Q8. Who or what would you consider as your inspiration?

Ans. I have always been inspired by these young and famous Youtubers who are changing the face of entertainment in the modern world. These 18-25-year-olds have not only created business empires for themselves through their Youtube careers, but they have also been able to take over Hollywood by getting cast in movies and TV shows. The internet has given much power to the youth of today and that inspires me to do more every day. I know I have countless opportunities provided to me through this platform and I hope I am able to seize all of them one by one.

Q9. How has this page changed your life?

Ans. That’s a good question because when I think of it, Jokeshub is now a huge part of my identity. Not only has it given me immense recognition and confidence, but I have come to realize that I have created a brand that is a source of joy to a lot of people. I often get messages from people telling me how my memes are what gets them through their difficult lives, so I believe I am doing something much more than just brand building and running a business. I am affecting people’s lives for the better and that is something I will always hold very close to my heart.

Q10. Are there any other pages that you own as well?

Ans. Yes, I have a backup page with 400k followers @yawning, and I have also started a new page @hawker that I am trying to grow organically by getting my posts featured on the Instagram explore page.

Q11. What do you do when you’re not working?

Ans. Although my busy routine doesn’t allow me much time to do other things since I have a job as well, I do work out daily and I am usually watching TV shows or listening to songs while I’m doing my Instagram work at night.

Q12. What advice can you give to others who would like to become an influencer as well?

Ans. Dream big. There is no one but yourself stopping you from dreaming big. Set short-term and long-term goals. Your long-term goals should seem ‘unattainable’ while your short-term goals should focus more on what you do on a daily basis. If you’re ambitious enough, I don’t think you’ll see failure in what you do.

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