Hello, and welcome to another Tuesday! Today's Tuesday Tips theme is again one of my favorites: Pinterest.
I've been on Pinterest for years, way before I even thought about starting a blog, much less an Etsy shop. It's not only my favorite social media but also the one I find most useful.
Before I found Pinterest I used to bookmark web pages, or even printing them - which obviously always ended up in a messy pile of clutter, either physical or digital. So it's no wonder I found Pinterest so appealing right from the start.
And, to be honest, because I always used Pinterest as a source of inspiration and as a way to store things for future reference (Pinterest can even help you declutter - read how here), I never really considered Pinterest as a social media per se and I never paid attention to the number of followers or daily views. After opening my Etsy shop, I became more active in Etsy groups and tried to get more traffic on Pinterest, but I still kept to my pinning routine.
So...how did I get to 5.5K followers and 397.8K monthly viewers?
1. Be yourself
This is an advice I gave to anyone who wants to start a blog (see my 10 blogging tips for absolute beginners). Pinterest, in my opinion, is no different. If you pin the things your are really interested in, people will realize you are serious about Pinterest and not just trying to grow your followers at any cost. Pin things for yourself, not just because you think others will like what you pin. And you'll be respected for it.
Pinterest is my main source of inspiration, both for my personal projects, for my blog and even for my shop - it's become a work tool.
2. Be organised
Again, do this for yourself first. You can't really use Pinterest if you don't ever find what you pin. Create as many boards as you need, label them in a way that works for you, use the sections within each board, and pin things to the appropriate boards.
Add private boards for those things you don't want to share with others - I use private boards for things I scan from books or magazines but that may have copyright limitations. Those are not to be shared - it's not right and it's not legal, so keep them private.
Some of my boards do have weird names because, again, I use Pinterest in a very personal way. I have one board called "A's favorites" and another called "S's favorites". "A" and "S" are my kids' initials and I pin there all the things they would like and I could make for them one day - when I have time...
3. Pin often
This is probably where those pinning apps can help you. But, to be honest, if you're really keen on using Pinterest, you won't need them. I visit Pinterest at least once a day and I pin the things I like as I search for them or just as they show up on my feed.
4. Give it some time
Obviously 5.5K followers do not appear overnight. Like everything else in life, you'll need to work on your Pinterest before people start noticing you. But after that, if your boards are interesting and organised, followers will come.
5. Revisit your pins and boards
There's no point in keeping pins you have no use for. So, for the sake of keeping things organised, I usually check my boards at least once a month, to delete any duplicate pins (and yes, this happens more often than you realize), any links that are broken or pins that have just got side tracked and ended up in the wrong board (this happens to me especially when I pin from the tablet of the phone app). I get rid of things that don't interest me anymore, pins that I tried and didn't work as intended and links that are broken and therefore useless. That way I can make a better use of Pinterest for inspiration and I'm keeping my boards as organised and up to date as possible.
And that's it, these are the five tips I have to share with you today. Despite the number of followers and daily views, I'm still learning new things about Pinterest everyday, and as soon as I'm able to reopen my Etsy shop I intend to work harder on driving traffic from Pinterest to the shop - and maybe then I can have some more tips for you.
I've been on Pinterest for years, way before I even thought about starting a blog, much less an Etsy shop. It's not only my favorite social media but also the one I find most useful.
Before I found Pinterest I used to bookmark web pages, or even printing them - which obviously always ended up in a messy pile of clutter, either physical or digital. So it's no wonder I found Pinterest so appealing right from the start.
And, to be honest, because I always used Pinterest as a source of inspiration and as a way to store things for future reference (Pinterest can even help you declutter - read how here), I never really considered Pinterest as a social media per se and I never paid attention to the number of followers or daily views. After opening my Etsy shop, I became more active in Etsy groups and tried to get more traffic on Pinterest, but I still kept to my pinning routine.
So...how did I get to 5.5K followers and 397.8K monthly viewers?
1. Be yourself
This is an advice I gave to anyone who wants to start a blog (see my 10 blogging tips for absolute beginners). Pinterest, in my opinion, is no different. If you pin the things your are really interested in, people will realize you are serious about Pinterest and not just trying to grow your followers at any cost. Pin things for yourself, not just because you think others will like what you pin. And you'll be respected for it.
Pinterest is my main source of inspiration, both for my personal projects, for my blog and even for my shop - it's become a work tool.
2. Be organised
Again, do this for yourself first. You can't really use Pinterest if you don't ever find what you pin. Create as many boards as you need, label them in a way that works for you, use the sections within each board, and pin things to the appropriate boards.
Add private boards for those things you don't want to share with others - I use private boards for things I scan from books or magazines but that may have copyright limitations. Those are not to be shared - it's not right and it's not legal, so keep them private.
Some of my boards do have weird names because, again, I use Pinterest in a very personal way. I have one board called "A's favorites" and another called "S's favorites". "A" and "S" are my kids' initials and I pin there all the things they would like and I could make for them one day - when I have time...
3. Pin often
This is probably where those pinning apps can help you. But, to be honest, if you're really keen on using Pinterest, you won't need them. I visit Pinterest at least once a day and I pin the things I like as I search for them or just as they show up on my feed.
4. Give it some time
Obviously 5.5K followers do not appear overnight. Like everything else in life, you'll need to work on your Pinterest before people start noticing you. But after that, if your boards are interesting and organised, followers will come.
5. Revisit your pins and boards
There's no point in keeping pins you have no use for. So, for the sake of keeping things organised, I usually check my boards at least once a month, to delete any duplicate pins (and yes, this happens more often than you realize), any links that are broken or pins that have just got side tracked and ended up in the wrong board (this happens to me especially when I pin from the tablet of the phone app). I get rid of things that don't interest me anymore, pins that I tried and didn't work as intended and links that are broken and therefore useless. That way I can make a better use of Pinterest for inspiration and I'm keeping my boards as organised and up to date as possible.
And that's it, these are the five tips I have to share with you today. Despite the number of followers and daily views, I'm still learning new things about Pinterest everyday, and as soon as I'm able to reopen my Etsy shop I intend to work harder on driving traffic from Pinterest to the shop - and maybe then I can have some more tips for you.
Happy Tuesday, stay safe and don't forget to check the other Tuesday Tips posts from this fantastic group!
Awesome tips! I also use my Pinterest in a personal way. I know lots of people suggest keeping your business stuff and personal stuff separate, but I think that would be silly, and way more work than necessary. :)
ReplyDeletethis is so helpful...... thank you!!!!
ReplyDeletePinning, Following, Scheduling and even un-following were never so easy on Pinterest. It even takes time to grow on Pinterest but not for me; I am using PinPinterest com for my Pinterest account automation. It can work for you 24*7 with its autopilot feature. You can even use it on the go due to its cloud storage facility.
ReplyDelete