Note: Using Pinterest is highly addictive. It’s like Pringles, once you Pin you can’t stop. Proceed with caution.
What Is Pinterest?
Pinterest is a social media site that allows you to “pin” photos from around the web or even those that you upload from your phone. It’s definitely geared toward those of us that are visual thinkers.
If you’ve ever read the book The Secret, you are undoubtedly familiar with the concept of Vision Boards. Pinterest can work much the same way. You can use it to “pin” images of the life you want to have.
You can of course also pin images of products you like, inspirational quotes, and any other image on the web or that you take with your phone.
How Does It Work?
1) Request An Invite & Sign Up
2) Follow People
You can use Facebook or Twitter to find people you know that are already on Pinterest that you can start following immediately.
3) Pin, Repin, Like, Comment, and Tag
Pin an image from somewhere online using the Pin It Bookmarklet Button, via your iPhone app, or from a Pin It button on a website.
Your home screen (click on the Pinterest logo at the top to get back there) is the “feed” of all Pins from all the people you follow. On each Pin you will see buttons at the top left: “Repin”, “Like”, and “Comment”. If you are familiar with Facebook, “Like” and “Comment” should be self-explanatory. (If not, check out the Facebook Lingo.) “Repin” allows you to pin anything that someone else has pinned, much like Facebook’s “Share” option.
You can also Tag anyone that you follow within a description of a Pin or Comment, much as you can in Facebook or other SMs (social mediums) as well. All you need to do is to type the ‘@’ symbol and then their name (with no space between).
What’s The Benefit?
So, it’s great that we can do this, but why would we want to?
Personal Branding
Personal Branding is quickly becoming so important to all professionals. Business owners and sales people rely on it to build relationships with potential customers. Employees rely on it to keep or get a job. Pinterest gives you the ability to visually communicate who you are.
What makes you tick? What’s your favorite color? What music, sport, movies, and more do you like? What kind of person are you?
Retailers
Pinterest is also a powerful tool for retailers, especially the smaller ones. You’ve heard about how YouTube videos can go viral; the photos posted on Pinterest can go viral in much the same way.
Example: One person can Pin something from an Etsy shop; that item can be repinned countless (and limitless) times. That Etsy shop is now temporarily sold out, but all of this hype gets the attention of some big-wig in NYC and they now have their products being sold in stores internationally.
Sharing Your Pins
Sharing your Pins on other Social Networks is a great way to integrate this personal branding effort into your social media strategy. By connecting your Facebook or Twitter accounts, you can automatically post your Pins.
Happy Pinning!