Yes, I have a Pinterest account. Yes I am a guy. And yes, I was a little wary of going to a site that appeared at first to have nothing but images of women’s underwear or crazy recipes I’d never eat strewn across it. When most people think of Pinterest and visit the site they see a bunch of pictures of recipes, latest fashions, and cute things. I on the other hand see Pinterest as a potential gold mine of traffic.
How is it a potential gold mine you might ask? Well, lets get through the explanation of what Pinterest is first and then I will tell you!
What is Pinterest
You have heard the saying “A Picture can say a Thousand Words”? Think of Pinterest as giant community Cork Board where you can “Pin” your favorite images from around the web to your own board and share them with other people. With Pinterest it takes the best apsects of Facebook, Tumbler and sites like Etsy and mashes them all together into a community where you can organize and share your favorite images. You can share just about any type of image from any sites that allow it! Online E-tailers such as Amazon love it I’m sure as when other “Pinners” click on the image it will take them directly to the site where the image was “Pinned” from.
Organize Your Favorite Stuff
What makes Pinterest great is the way you can organize your own Pinterest page into different “Boards”. When you sign up you get a few defaults like “Books Worth Reading”, “Movies Worth Watching”, “Favorite Spaces & Places”, and a few others to get you started. What is great is the fact you can edit/change/delete these boards easily and quickly.
My Boards on Pinterest!
Pin It!
After you have your boards setup – then it is just a matter to get to “Pinning”. How does one “Pin It”? Pinterest has a simple bookmark icon you can add to any browser bookmark bar – then when you find something interesting floating around the web you click the bookmarklet and it will do the rest. When you Pin a new item you get to put in a brief description/review/want/witty caption (See where this is going yet?)
Pin It!
Demographics Myth
Although the main demographic of the 7 million people who have already been invited to the site are women (Some “studies” say as high as 80%). It isn’t all about recipes and women’s fashions. I have found some really funny stuff on there as well as well as other sites such as Social Fresh on there already. So obviously I’m not the only one thinking of this!
So How is Pinterest a Bloggers Gold Mine?
So you made it this far? Great!
You can use Pinterest as a way to PROMOTE YOUR BLOG! I know it sounds simple but this means you will need to do a few tweaks with your blog to help generate interest. In order to promote your blog you will have to allow Pinterest to display images directly from your website. And you will have to “Pin” that killer article using the “Pin It” Bookmarklet from your browser (see, you shouldn’t skim – you’ll need to read above to figure out how!). Make sure the brief description you write there is as eye-catching as the image you just “Pinned”.
Oh, Wait.. did I forget to mention that?
You’ve heard Content is King a million times. Well, with Pinterest – your Image is King. If you don’t have an eye-catching graphic to go along with that killer article – it will get buried in a sea of women’s lingerie and pumpkin bisque recipes. On the other hand – if you have an image that piques a “Pinners” interest? It has the potential to turn viral fairly quickly and get “Re-Pinned” over and over – thus generating more interest. If they click on that image it will go directly to your site. Not only have you generated interest to your blog – but hopefully potential subscribers as well!
A few ideas for using Pinterest to help with your site:
- Pin your Blog Updates – Make sure to use snazzy eye-catching graphics and make sure the description is just as interesting!
- Pin Info-graphics - People love Info-graphics - post them on Pinterest and if its good – it will get re-pinned quickly.
- Pin Your Products! – If you have an e-book or other service – pin those as well! You could create a separate board dedicated just for this.
As you can see – if you use a little bit of imagination you can drive a potential 7 million people to your website!
The Caveat
The only problem is how to get started with Pinterest. At this time it is only by invite only. You will need to either request an invite from the Pinterest site itself or you will need to get an invite from someone who already has an account.
As with any social medium though don’t be a jerk and only post your stuff then run away to the next site. You will need to browse around other peoples pins and comment and/or re-pin them. Also you will need to keep adding to your Pinterest page interesting bits you find around the web to share. It is just like any other community – the only way you get anything out of it is by spending time contributing to it.
I’ve started using Pinterest not only to try and generate interest in my site but to post my favorite books, movies, music, favorite products, funny quotes and pictures, geek stuff, and so much more! So:
Pinterest is Addictive!
I hope you’ve enjoyed the article. Make sure you share your experience with Pinterest in the comments below. As always if you have any questions make sure to add a Comment! I use KeywordLuv Premium which allows you to add your Twitter name as well. I read and reply to all comments!
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