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Grow Your Blog On Pinterest - Part 2

Here are just a few tips about using Pinterest a little differently than the average bear Pinner. Pinterest is quickly growing and will soon reach the Facebook and Twitter status, don't you think? Especially for those of us who don't particularly love social networking. I read recently that Pinterest is pulling in more pageviews than Etsy! Read that article from TechCrunch.com HERE.

BLOGGING BEAUTIFULLY = PERFECT PINTEREST

Give your potential pinners a hint of what is to come before they click on your pin. No one wants to go to your pin boards and see all the images from your blog. Create adorable buttons to give a hint of the images they'll find on your blog...let them pin YOU! (I'll be writing a new tutorial on creating buttons asap since Picnik is closing soon).

After you create a pinnable image it's a good idea to let your friends and readers know about it. If you don't want to pin it yourself, consider sending an email out to your subscription list (if you have one - a whole other post!) 

Add a WATERMARK to your own photos. There are some quick and easy apps available for iPhone and Blackberry to add a watermark to photos taken with your phone before you ever post them, upload them or pin them! (More on watermarks next time!)

Pinterest is all about sharing...think about writing a tutorial on activities/crafts that you know would inspire others...then pin a beautiful photo or button image to promote it.

Meet and Greet other pinners. If someone is following you and you like their pin boards it is a good idea to return the favor. You can always drop them a little message and let them know you love their pins! (This will encourage 'like" behavior - hopefully).

Hand in hand - a beautiful blog encourages more pinning too. Consider a little blog spring cleaning, adding delectable images and buttons to your sidebar and/or posts...possibly a new graphic header to encourage more readers.


IS PINNING MY OWN IMAGES AND/OR PHOTOS ALLOWED? 
  • Read below what Pinterest says about promoting yourself. They don't say you CAN'T pin your own stuff. But they are asking us to NOT use Pinterest JUST for self-promotion. So please make sure if you are pinning your own stuff, use your boards for other purposes too (as mentioned HERE).

Here's what Pinterest says:
 


GROW IT NOW

Pin posts you're proud of. Adding a pin board about posts that you are proud of is a good way to get others to read your blog and continue to do so.

Create a board with blogs you love to read. Share with these blogs that you are pinning them and they might do the same.

Share what inspires you by pinning on a board about inspirational ideas, quotes, posts, images etc., with other pinners.

Create a niche board - only pin items to that board that work in that niche, such as tutorials, poems, stories, that pertain to your blog's theme (if you have one).

Pin items that you could receive a payment for referring someone. This could be slightly controversial, so make sure you let pinners know that your board might send them to an affiliate link.

Follow the Big Pinners. Those uber popular pinners get lots of traffic, so following them can lead to more views of your pins, too.

Don't forget to use your existing social networks to get people to your Pinterest account. Facebook and Twitter can redirect to your pins as soon as you pin them.

Come up with a cool cross-promotion between your blog and your Pinterest account. We started a Pin It and Win It promotion two months ago...if you pin our poster you will be eligible to win that poster (one winner per week). See our button in our sidebar.

FIND OUT WHICH OF YOUR PINS ARE POPULAR

The quickest and easiest way to figure out which of your pins are being repinned is to go to Pinterest and type in the following URL in your browser toolbar:
 http://pinterest.com/source/enteryouraccountname.com/ and bookmark it so you can check it regularly.

You will be able see what types of images/posts get pinned most often. see what comments you get. see how people ‘name’ the pins to get an idea of how they categorize your stuff. This will give you a good solid idea of what is working for you and what is not. If one of your pins has been repinned 100 times, then figure out a way of replicating that idea.

REMINDER
Use stimulating visual imagery on your blog and your pins. Remember that Pinterest is driven by images and once they are pinned they are pretty much on there forever. You don't want to look back and see an ugly picture from a great tutorial or recipe that you pinned without thinking. Edit and embellish your images to the best of your ability.

Do you love Pinterest too? We'll be showcasing an awesome pinner every week and you could be one of them.

GROW YOUR BLOG ON PINTEREST - PART 3
Read How To Use Pinterest

27 comments:

  1. Great series on Pinterest. I am enjoying using Pinteret and have never checked what is being pinned. I am going to go do that right now. Thanks.
    Karen G

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Karen, it is so much fun to see who is pinning you! Enjoy!

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  2. Thanks so much for the source code tip: I had no idea anyone had pinned things from my blog so was delighted to see dozens of pins!!

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  3. I cant seem to get the link to work to show which of my pins is popular. My account name is cropandprim, so it would look like this? http://pinterest.com/source/cropandprim.com/

    yet I get an error :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jane, I tried it to no avail. Is that your site name too? When I enter my blog URL it works fine...maybe try that. So sorry!

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  4. I also tried to get mine to work http://pinterest.com/source/dawn_lotharius.com/ just doesn't work.
    Thanks for all the info

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    Replies
    1. Dawn, so sorry it's not working for you. Possibly check your settings and see how you are signed in. Then try using that info.

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  5. Thanks for the tips about blogging and Pinterest. I LOVE Pinterest...it's so addicting..and I"ve found lots of fabulous ideas that way :) :) Love and hugs from the ocean shores of California, Heather :)

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  6. Love Pinterest!!!! I'm fluxcapacitor74 :)

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  7. Instead of the account name, I used the blog URL. Thanks so much for the tip!

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  8. Yes, I LOVE pinterst...so addicting, I actually blogged about this earlier in the week!
    I am addicted!

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  9. You guys give us such awesome advice. Thank you. I will take all that information to heart and look forward to seeing what you have to say about a Picnik replacement.

    Ciao bellas,
    Suzanne

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  10. I am new at this too! How do you promote your own art/craft...or in my case, jewelry, without actually "promoting yourself"?

    Thanks for all the awesome tips!

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  11. I need to know the reason why my blog was dropped last night! HELP!
    Earlene

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  12. Thank you for all this info, it has answered a lot of the questions I had :)

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  13. I adore pinterest. I just found your blog because I got a new follower and looked at her profile, clicked on her blog link, and noticed your article on her sidebar. She follows you, and so do I now. It's crazy how it's all connected like that. Thanks for the great advice. Angie @ postcards from the ridge

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  14. I just found you so PLEASE don't stop! LOL! But I know what you mean about blogging and the time it takes. I just got dressed and it's noon because I HAD to get a banner done in Picasa which I had never used. Yikes! It does take time and I did mine for the seasons so that means I'll have to get one ready for Spring now! I'm just learning so I REALLY appreciate all your info. I will be blogging about you and your site! Thank you SO much!

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  15. Thnaks a big bunch of hugs for the info. Could you plese tell me how I can thnk the pinners I really like? I don't know where to click. Appreciate it, Malika Bourne

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There used to be a way to leave them a msg via Pinterest and email, but I don't see that option anywhere. My best advice would be to click through to their facebook page and leave them a nice note there...

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  16. Great post! I look forward to the next one where you talk about creating buttons using Picnik. Cheers!

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    Replies
    1. HI! We actually already have a post about creating buttons using Picnik. Go here: http://www.blogguidebook.com/2010/05/how-to-make-button-using-picnik.html to read the post. Do it soon because Picnik will soon be gone!

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  17. Thanks for the article!!! But could you please explain more about the "niche board", I didn't get it. Sorry for bothering.

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    Replies
    1. Niche boards can be considered two things, I think. One could be a board focused mostly on your blog readers, for example: mommy bloggers, artists, home decor etc. The second thing a niche board can be is a collection of like things, such as horses, the color pink, babies, food (in general). I guess niche is just taking one thing that you find fabulous and you create a board for it...
      Here's the definition from Wikipedia about a similar subject, that I found very interesting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niche_market

      Hope this helps...you could take out the word niche and exchange it for "my absolute favorite thing in the world to collect"?

      Keep Blogging and Thanks for your question!

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  18. Hi - sorry I am seeing this so late. Great ideas!

    I have a question for you - can you tell me how you are findning out all of the people who pin your images in your "Pin It and WIn It?" I dont know how you can find everyone who pins outside your own Pinterest community...i.e. when Pinterest followers' followers and their followers (ad infinitum) pin it.

    Thanks...

    Linda
    www.thecolorfulbee.com (new blog address - not on Blogger any more)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Linda, what we do is type in the HTML to source who pinned us...the code is in the post above. This tells us anyone and everyone who pins our stuff. Thanks for the question!

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  19. Hello Sarah!
    Thank you so much for this super interesting series on blogging and Pinterest! I only joined Pinterest myself a few months ago, but I'm hooked and have seen the traffic to my Etsy sites go up as well. I do have boards for two of my Etsy shops there, but about 90% of my pinning is still for everything else wonderful I find there!! I had considered adding a new board for my blog because I do digital collages that I thought might be visually interesting. Thanks to this series, I am now much more encouraged to do it (and thank you for the reminder to watermark your images!).

    Wishing you a great day!
    Betty

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Comments are how we stay connected as bloggers. Let us know how you feel and we'll return the favor...stay calm and blog on!!! And guess what? You'll never find Word Verification on our blog...it gets kind of annoying when you can't read what WV wants you to verify right?

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