Jill Dillard’s last seven Instagram posts have been fairly obvious promotions for certain brands or products — leading viewers to wonder whether the 19 Kids and Counting star is a really loyal buyer or if she’s getting a cut on the deal.
First, let’s look at Jill’s most recent posts, captions and relevant hashtags…
1. Duct tape…a must have in every home! #theduckbrand
2. Can’t beat eating out for only .56 cents per person! Celebrating IHOP’s birthday with a short stack of pancakes for .56! #ihop
3. Dinner date to Abuelos with my hubby!
4. Chacos for the 4th! #chacos
5. Making one of Derick’s favorites for dinner tonight…stuffed zucchini! I love www.allrecipies.com!
6. Thank you @avalaurenne for my lovely wedding dress and making my day special! Y’all are awesome! #avalaurenne #peoplemag
Although it’s possible Jill passionate enough about those brands to allow them to take over her Instagram page, it’s more likely she is being a savvy celebrity. According to information from Sponsored Tweets, stars can make substantial earnings by writing 140-character messages. (The website doesn’t have the same information for sponsored Instagram posts, but it’s likely comparable. Jill also tweets the links to her Instagram posts.)
Even though payments are typically linked to the number of followers a person has, sponsored tweets aren’t just for those millions of followers: According to Huffington Post from 2013, The Bachelor‘s Sean Lowe earns $6,500 for tweets to his 500,000 followers, Stacy Keibler pulls in the same amount for posts to her 328,000 fans and actress Melissa Joan Hart commands more than $9,000 for messages to her 322,000 Twitter followers.
Jill has a lot going for her in terms of potential rates. Not only has she accumulated 226,000 followers during the two months she’s been on Instagram, but she’s also a primary ambassador for the larger Duggar brand. Knowing that, it’s not at all unrealistic to imagine the Dillards have earned more than a total $10,000 for seven posts. (And, in typical Duggar style, that’s a modest figure.)
