Here’s a great post by Amy Kalinchuk on using Pinterest to promote and build your business and brand! Thanks, Amy!
Pinterest is a new social networking tool that can help you build your business. It isn’t apparent upon the first glance, but it can help drive traffic to your website, attract attention to your business, and help with promotion.
It does this in a roundabout way, though. Once you sign up for Pinterest, you will figure out quickly how to use it–it’s easy. They will give you a code for a “Pin it!” app in your bookmarks or favorites in your browser. When you come across a photo on the Internet that you want to share, you lick the Pin it! app, and you can choose the photo you want to share. Add a caption, and assign it to a category (a pin “board”), and then it’s pinned.
So, why do this? People on Pinterest can follow you, just like your friends on Facebook follow you. They can see what you are doing, what you like, what you share, etc. On Pinterest, people will follow you if you pin things they also like. They may even re-pin your things.
How is this good for your business?
1. People will follow you when they like what you like. This means they will also probably look at your profile, where you will have a link to your website.
2. On your blog or website, you can have a button that says “Pin this!” Get your button here. This makes it easy for people to share your style with the world. When someone sees your website images on Pinterest, they will click it and will be whisked away to your website. They are already interested in your style, so they are better prospects for a purchase than random visitors.
3. When you post things that are your style, like-minded people will follow you or that particular board. This is another way of having a following online, similar to Facebook or Twitter followers. On Facebook and Twitter, you can start conversations–Pinterest is similar as well. If your followers comment on your pin, you can reply and continue the conversation.
4. If you run a craft fair, you can create a board specifically for it, and feature your crafters who are participating. This is a great way to market for your show.
Time will tell how Pinterest will evolve. As it is right now, it’s great for crafters to share what they like, so others can find you. Careful about looking at other pins, though–Pinterest will suck all of your time away, if you let it.
Amy Kalinchuk is on Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter. Are you?
