Optimizing Pinterest for Your Online Business

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Pinterest is hotter and more contagious than a California wildfire. If you haven’t paid attention so far, you should start and it should be optimized for the business that you do online so that it brings great rewards to you.

According to statistics, Pinterest is now generating more traffic than LinkedIn, YouTube, and Google+ combined. Numerous retailers are involved and are offering “Pin it” buttons on their websites. Bear in mind that until quite recently, most people didn’t even know that Pinterest even existed. It is not only important for business owners to understand the basic principles of Pinterest and how it works but also to leverage it to its greatest potential by taking full advantage of all that it has to offer. The following are some tips that will help you to take advantage of Pinterest for your business:

Initiation

Just in case you don’t feel that you have enough understanding of Pinterest to actually use it for your business, the basic are quite simple.  People share graphic images through the site. That is how they bond and find out what they have in common. As a user, you gather images and “pin” them to one of the many boards that you have created. Users are able to create many different boards and they can arrange them by themes. Other people who are Pinterest users can then follow those boards based on their interests and can share their favorite images by “repinning” them, “liking” them and leaving comments. The images can link back other people’s businesses, which is exactly why Pinterest is such a powerful tool for your business. Because of that feature, the people who reach out to you professionally are prequalified and preselected simply because they have opted in. Those people are intentionally choosing your brand and your offerings and thus will be likely to share your information with other people whom they know.

Add “Pin it” button to your website

Many business owners have already added this button to their website but it is expected that many more will be doing this in the near future. Users of Pinterest will be saving “Pin it” bookmarks in their Favorites in their computers’ browsers. Adding this button will definitely serve to increase business dramatically for people with products and/or services to sell. This brings  your visual capability to the next level.

Show creativity with your images

If you are at a point where you are thinking about updating your catalog or website, there is no time like the present to do it. Pinterest makes it very easy for you to share your images with your community. It is very important that you use the best-quality images so that you hold the interest of your online connections. It is very important that you give your connections a generous selection that appropriately demonstrates your professional capabilities. All of your images should be innovative, exciting, compelling and magnetic. Another good idea is to come up with creative names for your various boards. Make sure that they are clear representations of your branding and your business. It is important to stay away from copyrighted material when building your boards so that you don’t run into any complications and end up having to pay. Your objective is to attract people to your presence and to interact with them so that you establish a relationship that will span the test of time.

Don’t be shy

If you want to use Pinterest in a way that helps your business to become even more successful than it is now, you need to really work it and not to consider it only as a marketing tool. You should get to know it really well and have fun interacting with others online. You need to make a commitment to using it regularly (a consistent number of times a week) and at regular intervals. If you don’t do that, you won’t be able to really be a part of any community through Pinterest and being a part of a community (or communities) is critical to your success. A great way to build a community on Pinterest is to try to encourage  your clients to join and then interact with them. If your clients are not sure (and, therefore, not comfortable) about using it, you can step in and show them exactly what to do. However, please be warned that it is addictive and once you start, you may not want to stop.

Keep at it

Pinterest is here to stay for a very long time. The more you use it and encourage others to do the same, the more exciting and useful it will become. Your consistency and persistence are key in this situation. The more you work it and the more consistent you are able to be, the better your results will be.

Conclusion

Pinterest is an amazing site that brings people together online in a unique and fascinating way. It is well worth the effort for you and  your business. Once you start to use it, you will wonder how you ever conducted business before Pinterest ever existed. Your business will thrive and there will be a new element of excitement that you can jump on with both feet.

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Author

  • Michael Cohn

    Michael Cohn is the founder and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of CompuKol Communications. He has decades of experience in IT and web technologies. Michael founded CompuKol Communications to help small businesses and entrepreneurs increase their visibility and reputation. CompuKol consults, creates, and implements communication strategies for small businesses to monopolize their markets with a unique business voice, vision, and visibility. Mr. Cohn earned a Master’s degree in project management from George Washington University in Washington, DC; and a Master’s degree in computer science and a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, NJ.

8 Responses

  1. Arabella McIntyre-Brown says:

    Via LinkedIn Groups
    • Group: Books and Writers
    • Discussion: Optimizing Pinterest for Your Online Business

    Good and useful advice – thanks. I’ve just started using Pinterest, but mainly for fun with an eye to the business benefit. Too much to do… But your advice will help.
    Posted by Arabella McIntyre-Brown

  2. Lynda Leah Laker says:

    Via LinkedIn Groups
    • Group: Jewish Professionals
    • Discussion: Optimizing Pinterest for Your Online Business

    It is a lot of fun to get alerts that your pins have been repinned or your boards followed.
    Posted by Lynda Leah Laker

  3. Ann says:

    Thank you for this information. I am just starting to use Pinterest and it is addicting. I have to put it at the end of my day or I don’t accomplish any thing else.

  4. Pat Valentine Ziv says:

    Via LinkedIn Groups
    • Group: The Jewish Business Network (JBN)
    • Discussion: Optimizing Pinterest for Your Online Business

    Thanks Michael – I really enjoy reading your informative posts. I just wish I had more time to read and post myself! I am on the verge of a new website and working Pinterest. I hope to get the PIN IT on the site (the delay may have been helpful after all)
    Looking forward to seeing you again soon.
    Pat
    Posted by Pat Valentine Ziv, ASID, NJ CID

  5. blackburn caterers says:

    Hurrah! In the end I got a blog from where I be able
    to actually obtain useful facts regarding my study and knowledge.

  6. Steven J Fromm says:

    How do actually get invovled with PIninterest. Do you establish an account with them and then post it to your website? What are the actual step to do this?
    Do you think this works for a law firm?
    If you are using pictures how do you know if they are OK to use if you find them on the internet?
    Great article that raised all these basic questions.
    Thanks Michael

    • Lori Becker says:

      I second one of Steven’s questions. How do you know if pictures are okay to use if you find them on the internet?

      • Michael Cohn says:

        Lori,
        You should never use images that you just downloaded from the Internet. You should assume by default that every image on the Internet is copyrighted, find who owns it and request permission to reuse it.