This is a guest post by Heather on how to make money with Pinterest. You can read the guidelines for guest posting at our guest posting guidelinespage.
“Pinsanity” has gripped the Internet. Over the past year, millions of Facebook and Twitter users have logged onto the newest social media darling and declared their addiction to Pinterest. Now, Internet marketers are standing up and taking notice. Savvy bloggers and site owners are figuring out ways to leverage the site to promote their blogs and to increase their revenue potential. A lot of them have even started to make money with pinterest.
Here’s what you need to know to do the same:
What is Pinterest?
The concept behind Pinterest is quite simple: It is a visual bookmarking tool that allows users to tag and group photos for products and blog posts around the Internet.
See a cute craft project that you want to make? Pin it to a DIY board for inspiration or guidance.
Stumble across the perfect dress for an upcoming party? Pin it to a personal style board for ideas or a future purchase.
Instead of bookmarking these items in your browser, you can create site-based bookmarks that are accessible anywhere. Plus, they’re grouped into gorgeous virtual pin boards that make for much more interesting and engaging reference material.
Why You Should Care about Pinterest?
So what does a bunch of (mostly) women tagging pretty dresses and cute baby booties have to do with your site — unless you happen to sell pretty dresses or cute baby booties? A lot, if you play your cards right.
Pinterest has more than 10 million registered users — and it’s still in an invite-only phase with limited access. It is the fastest growing independent site in Internet history, and it shows no signs of slowing down any time soon.
Pinterest also generates more site referrals than Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn combined — though it still trails behind social-media giant Facebook.
That’s a lot of link juice and a lot of potential sales that you are turning your back on if you decide that Pinterest doesn’t suit your brand. (Hint: With that many potential customers, it does suit your brand, no matter what your brand is.)
How to make money with Pinterest?
There are multiple ways that you can leverage the marketing potential of Pinterest to promote your site and to make money with Pinterest. Here are just a few:
Drive Traffic to Your Blog
Of course, one of the best ways to promote your brand and make money with Pinterest is to drive traffic to your blog. Upload and pin photos of your products, or upload and pin photos related to your service.
Do you offer financial advice? Pin photos of people enjoying their retirement or their new home, or pin infographics about the real estate market and other financial matters.
Pins are no follow, but you can include a link to each of your pins, and list a link in your descriptions. If users like what they see, they’ll visit your site.
Take the time to search for your photos or articles that have been pinned by other users but do not include your link. You can then re-pin these items and include the link, or you can contact the users to ask them to add your link. Since they liked your work enough to pin it in the first place, many users will be happy to oblige this request.
Increase Search Engine Ranking
Of course, the more traffic you are driving to your blog, the higher search engines will rank your site and the better you chance to make money with Pinterest. But your efforts should not end there.
Be sure that you are leveraging your optimization strategies through your pins, including proper use of targeted keywords. Each pin allows you to include a 500-character description, and you should use every one of those characters to create keyword-rich copy that will boost your site in your niche.
Use keywords when naming your photos — eg. “Toshiba Projection HDTV” instead of “TV” — and when giving your pins headlines and tags.
The better your search engine rankings are, the more visitors you will get and this in turn will mean that you will make money with pinterest.
Pin Your Affiliate Products to make money with Pinterest
Pinterest users are already in a buying frame of mind when they are on the site. They are actively identifying products that they like or want. Take advantage of this by offering them products to buy — products that will earn you a commission if they buy them and this way too, you can make money with Pinterest.
Do not directly pin your affiliate products, using your affiliate link and targeted keywords. Use link cloaking software or a shortened url to disguise your affiliate links, as Pinterest will scan for them and convert them to their own affiliate links if they find them. In other words, Pinterest will steal your sale, and you will get no commission.
Pin to Blog Posts
Diversify your monetization strategy by also linking to blog posts that include affiliate links or other advertising that will earn you a commission. Pinterest’s bots won’t be able to convert your blog links, so any sales you make from these pins will be your own and you can make money with Pinterest.
Be sure to choose blog posts that have compelling visuals — Pinterest users are drawn in by photos, not text. If you want your pins and your posts to be effective in getting interest for your affiliate products, you have to grab users’ attention first.
Pinterest may seem like a simple concept, but it has significant potential to be a marketing powerhouse for Internet entrepreneurs. Use the site to drive more traffic to your blog and affiliate products, and watch your subscription base and sales grow significantly.
Have you had any success using Pinterest to promote your blog or brand or, making money with pinterest in any other ways? Tell us about your experiences in the comments!
About the author:
Heather Green is a freelance writer for several regional magazines in North Carolina as well as a resident blogger for OnlineNursingDegrees.org. Her writing experience includes fashion, business, health, agriculture and a wide range of other topics. Heather has just completed research on medical transcription programs and the many online physical therapy assistant classes.
Comment below and tell us how do you make money with Pinterest.