Pinterest is the latest buzz in the social media world and if you haven’t heard of it, you are missing out. Pinterest is not all fun and games though, using Pinterest for business is a new growing trend. For all of you newbies let’s start with the basics- what is Pinterest?
Basically, Pinterest is an online bulletin board where you “pin” images that you run across online. Sure, everything on Pinterest is already out there on the internet and you could find if you were searching for it but the neat thing is that I find things I never would have thought to look for.
My kids made homemade Christmas presents this year, all based on crafts I ran across on Pinterest. I have also found wonderful recipes on there that I would never have thought to search for. But take this, for example, as something so simple that I ran across on there but never knew. You can re-grow scallions after using them by placing the bottoms of them with the roots in a glass of water. I use a lot of green onions in recipes and now have some on my window sill I have been using for several months over and over again.
Source:HomemadeSerenity.Blogspot.com
Very cool, right? But you are probably all thinking, what in the world does this all have to do with business and blogging? When I first started using it I did not see the benefits of using Pinterest for business at first but there is so much traffic driven from that site, wouldn’t it be great to take advantage of that?
For a quick guide to getting started on Pinterest and how to use it, check out SortaCrunchy.net’s Beginner’s Guide. Once you have the basics figured out you may start to see the potential. Here are some tips for getting started using Pinterest for business to drive traffic to your blog.
- Obviously, if you are a blogger and you want readers to pin something of yours you need to start by making sure you are including images in each post. Pinterest is image based so if you have a great post but no image, there is nothing for anyone to pin.
- Make it easy for your readers by adding a Pin it on Pinterest wordpress plug in. Most avid Pinterest users have the “pin it” button in their toolbar but this plug in makes using Pinterest for business even easier.
- Use great photos or eye-catching images. If you have a great post but your photo is terrible then even if it gets pinned by a reader it won’t get re-pinned over and over again and drive traffic to your site because it is not going to catch anyone’s eye once it is on Pinterest.
- If you’re good with graphics then make your own, they make great pins. Adding graphics to a photo works great as well. Instead of just adding a photo of the new wreaths you made, for example, take a picture of a wreath and add the graphics “10 Easy Wreaths” to the photo. This adds an automatic description of your pin and does not rely on pinners to pin a picture of one of your wreaths and then add a good description to get others interested.
- Don’t pin only your own stuff. Be sure to pin and re-pin other peoples images too. Doing this will not only ensure you don’t look like you are on there only to self promote but will gain you followers when you re-pin their pins.
- Place a Pinterest Follow Me button on your blog with your other social media buttons to gain followers.
- Make sure when you pin something whether it is from your blog or elsewhere that you pin directly from the blog post. For example if you pinned my graphic above that says “How to use Pinterest to Drive Traffic” from my home page http://smallbizblogforwomen.com eventually this post will get moved down until it is no longer on my home page and then it would be difficult for someone who clicks on the pin to find the related post. If you instead pin directly from this blog post then the pin would lead directly here, no matter how long ago it was posted.
- Join Pinterest related linkys similar to 5MinutesforMom’s Pin It Fridays to get new followers and share pins.
Besides blogs, businesses and brands are using Pinterest to drive traffic too. Brands and Businesses are even starting their own Pinterest pages. ShesConnected.com just started a Pinterest page where you can follow us too. Tune in next week for part two of this post to see how all of this applies to businesses beyond the blogosphere.
