Pinterest! Who hasn’t heard of this platform and how much fun it is?! I mean, tons of colorful images that lure you into clicking and reading about stuff you are actually looking for.
Keep in mind that Pinterest is FREE to use! So, promoting your blog on Pinterest is great for someone who isn’t making a lot of money from their blog just yet.
I am new to the blogging world so I allowed myself a few months to get my blog up and running as well as learning a bit before I began to really promote it. So all that being said, I didn’t even start my Pinterest business account until mid September of 2018! Even then, it took me a few weeks to get my bearings and learn how to pin, how to use Tailwind to schedule and how to create a pin.
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Here is the raw truth – when I first started my Pinterest account I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. This is the TRUTH! I didn’t know much about Pinterest and had no idea how to create a pin, start a board or even what Pinterest was all about.
So, if you are totally confused as to what Pinterest does, how it works, what a pin is or where you should start – you are not alone! I was right there with you.
I opened my account and did a lot of reading online, applying what I learned and wha la!
Just 6 short weeks later I had gone from 85 monthly viewers (not very impressive) to OVER 35,000 monthly viewers!
So, I want to share a little of what I did in an effort to help you. I am hoping to share monthly updates as to how I am doing and what progress I have made.
Here are a few pics to show you where I was and where I ended after 30 days of growth.
This is an image of all audiences on October 7, 2018. I only had 85 monthly viewers and 3 engaged. Scroll down to see one month later.
Before you move on…If you want to see how much that number has grown since this post click here to go to my Pinterest profile!
Curious how I did it?
Here are some of my best tips for month 1 of starting your Pinterest account:
- Have a Pin for EVERY Post you write!
This is kind of a no brainer but if you are new you might not know this. Each time you write a post you MUST create a pin for that post and put it on Pinterest.
The title needs to be catchy, with a neat font and a great image. I recommend just scrolling through your Pinterest home feed and see what catches YOUR eye?! Whatever you are drawn to might be a good example for you to start with.
I am still trying to catch up on a pin for every post but am getting closer.
2. Pin OTHER people’s stuff – not just yours!
I realize this sounds counter-intuitive but stay with me here!
In the beginning, all you have is 10 or 20 posts – at best – to promote on your boards. Because of this you have a tendency to look like a newbie who doesn’t really know what they are talking about or doing.
Furthermore, you won’t have a large following at first so if you can pin other people’s content then you will get more eyes on your boards. That means more traffic overall which in time will lead to more people seeing YOUR pins and content.
- Repin the pins that are performing well.
If you have one or two pins that are killing it with repins and traffic to your site then you need to pay attention to that! Repin that exact pin weekly or every 10 or 20 days so it continually gets to the top of the feeds on Pinterest.
I now have access to the Smart Loop and LOVE it! If you can add this to your strategy then that will be a huge help as well.
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- Use Tailwind to keep pins going constantly!
If you haven’t heard of Tailwind, or have – but are hesitating to try it out you need to click this link right now and get started. By clicking this link Tailwind gives you a free trial allowing you to pin your first 100 pins for FREE!
Trust me when I say that Tailwind is the “single tool” that has propelled my monthly viewers from 85 to almost 36,000 in ONE MONTH! Now, I did the work, but Tailwind works in the shadows 24/7 doing what I tell it to do.
WHAT IS TAILWIND? It is a website that works in connection with Pinterest and allows you to pre-set when and what you want pinned to your boards. You can pin 5 pins a day or 50 pins a day. Totally up to you! Tailwind has the done the homework for you and will tell you when “your particular audience” is online and will already have those time slots ready for you. OR you can change those time slots and put in your preferred times slots for pinning. You can add time slots, take away slots or even move them around to your preferences. You can pre-set your pins for a week or even months in advance!
Tailwind is a like having an assistant right beside you everyday that works on your behalf. If you are ready to see massive growth on Pinterest, click here to get your free trail with Tailwind.
5. Add a description to EVERY pin – no matter what!
Take a look at Pinterest and you’ll see what I am talking about here. The pins that have a description below them have a tendency to be more appealing to the eye. If you are repining someone else’s pin and there is not a description, add one!
6. Start following other “like minded” Pinterest users.
It is important to be affiliated with other people on Pinterest who are doing what you are doing. When someone hits your Pinterest profile and reads about you and what you are promoting or writing about they might also take a look at who you follow.
Being associated with other great entrepreneurs, bloggers and people in your same niche will give you more credibility on Pinterest. You will find that others will be more likely to follow you and repin your content when you are associated with other great people or organizations.
If you would like, you can start by following me on Pinterest by clicking here. This will also give you a chance to see how my monthly viewers have grown since this post!
7. Pin EVERY SINGLE DAY!
This right here is the big one! You must pin everyday in order to show Pinterest you are a serious user. I have heard all numbers, ideas and opinions on how often you should be pinning each day. I have heard some bloggers say they pin 5 pins a day and others say they pin 80 to 100 pins a day. For me , I pinned 20 pins a day in order to get to where I am today. At some point, I might bring that number up and will keep you posted on results when I do.
Choose what works for you. However, the more you pin the greater chance you have of your audience growing quickly.
Things I did WRONG:
In closing, I did have some learning curves this month as a new user on Pinterest. Keep reading to see what I learned the hard way. Keep in mind I am slower than the average learner so there is definitely hope for you! 🙂
First, I didn’t check the links very often at first! Yikes!! This is a huge no-no! You MUST check the links each and every time you repin someone’s pin. If you don’t, and someone clicks on your pin – on your board – and they are sent to some spammy website or something that does not relate to what the pin offered, then you get a bad reputation. This is not good!
Check the link that the pin sends the reader to every time. I have made this correction and do it EVERY time now! I want to create a solid Pinterest site for my readers that is reliable and offers them what they are looking for.
Second, take a look at the image just below. Notice that the first 3 lines of images are bright and easy to read and see. Also notice that the next 3 lines of images are very dim and harder to read. Well, there is a reason for that! The brighter image means they are actually scheduled to go out at a certain time. The dimmer image means they are only a DRAFT and still need to be scheduled.
At first, I thought that they all looked the same and that when I saw an image in a time slot (bright or dim) – that was SET and would be published at the given time.
That is not at all what it meant! Learn from my mistake. This one
mis-understanding of the scheduler cost me TWO weeks of NO PINS! Which means my monthly viewers could have been much higher had I realized what I had done.
To help with the scheduling side of things, I learned that when you hover your cursor over ANY of these images it will quickly tell if it is actually scheduled or if it is a draft.
Another tip is to go to the tab “scheduled” and that will instantly show you what is scheduled and when.
All of this is so easy to use but for someone like me who struggles with the technical stuff I tend to take longer than most to pick it up. Hopefully this will help you as you get started!
I will be back next month with my Pinterest update, including wins, learns and things I probably shouldn’t do again!
If you would like to see my current numbers I invite you to click here to see my Pinterest profile. Be sure to follow me while you are there!
Good luck in getting your Pinterest journey started! Comment below and let me know how you’re doing!
