Simple Pin Podcast: Simple ways to boost your business using Pinterest

Whether you are brand new to Pinterest or have had an account for years, it’s important to make sure that your Pinterest settings are up to date and that you are aware of what’s new.  There have been some changes in the settings of Pinterest recently. I discovered this when those of us in The Simple Pin Collective recently worked on refreshing and reviving our Pinterest accounts. There were a lot of areas in my Pinterest account settings that I hadn’t gone through in quite a while, that needed to be changed and/or updated.  If you are brand new to Pinterest, this podcast will help you as you set up your Pinterest profile. If you’ve had your account set up for a while, this podcast will walk you through a Pinterest settings audit where you’ll discover what needs to be updated.  But before I dive into all things Pinterest settings, let me remind you of everything we offer here at SPM to serve you.  If you are ready to outsource your Pinterest management, we would be happy to help you with that. But don’t forget that we can also help you rock pin creation, video pin creation, and promoted pin management.  And of course, we have plenty of resources for the Pinterest DIYers as well. We have the Simple Pin Collective (mentioned above), which is our Pinterest marketing community, the Simple Pin podcast, where I give you simple and actionable steps to DIY your Pinterest marketing and a very active Facebook group.  Let’s roll up our sleeves and begin our Pinterest settings audit! When you go to your Pinterest profile (www.pinterest.com/yoururl), you’ll see an “edit profile” button right next to your name. There are a variety of different settings you can change. It can feel overwhelming. It’s best to begin at the beginning.  Categories of Pinterest Settings 1. Pinterest Profile Information The very first thing to tackle is editing your profile. Your profile tells people who you are and what you do.  If you’re new to Pinterest or haven’t updated your Pinterest profile in a while, take 30 minutes out of your day to work on that. You want to make sure that when people visit your profile, they automatically know what you’re all about.  If you have not updated your photo in a while, make sure you do that. You can also choose to use your brand logo instead of a photo of yourself if that makes sense for your particular brand.  Keep in mind that Pinterest users don’t go to Pinterest to follow people. They use Pinterest to find solutions and ideas. Nevertheless, your profile should be well-organized and have a great picture so that those people who randomly find themselves on your profile page want to follow you. While it’s important to keep your profile updated, you don’t want that to obsess about and spend a lot of time on. Your time should be spent on updating pin images, descriptions, and keywords. Editing the Display and Username  Your display name is limited to 65 characters. If your people are familiar with you and what you do, you don’t have to worry about adding keywords. I use the keywords “Pinterest Marketing & Management” to identify what I do. 

Is Pinterest social media? Can I just use Instagram instead? What does Pinterest offer that other social media sites don’t?  This is a question I’ve received a lot recently. I’ve had people ask me to talk about this so that they can share it with their business friends who don’t use Pinterest because they view it as another social media platform.  Spoiler alert: it’s not!  If you’re totally new to Pinterest, we have an email newsletter series that will help you get up and running super fast. From getting your account set up to creating your first Pinterest boards, this series will walk you through the foundation for Pinterest, step-by-step.  Once you’ve got your Pinterest foundation solid, make sure you download the Simple Pin Pinterest Planner. 20+ pages of monthly trends, stat tracking, checklists, and much more. It will keep you moving forward throughout the year.  Is Pinterest Social Media? If Not, What Is It?  I know that a lot of you are brand new to Pinterest and don’t really know what exactly it is. Or maybe you have only been using it personally and don’t know how to use it for your business.  Pinterest is different from other social media platforms and that benefits you as a marketer.  So what is Pinterest?  According to Wikipedia… Pinterest, Inc. is an American social media web and mobile application company. It operates a software system designed to enable saving and discovery of information on the Internet using images and, on a smaller scale, GIFs, and videos. On the Pinterest website, Pinterest is described as a visual discovery engine for finding ideas, like recipes, home and style inspiration, and more.  Pinterest is a visual version of Google. You can use Google Images, but it’s not the first option that pops up.  Pinterest users are drawn to the platform because of the images. They can search for an idea, product, or dream and see it right away.  What Makes Pinterest Different?  In order to understand the difference between Pinterest and other social media platforms, we need to also understand what those other social media platforms are used for.  The Instagram Platform Instagram is a platform that allows you to follow people or brands, whether you know them personally or not.  It gives us an inside look at people’s lives through posts on our feed. If we don’t follow someone specific, we won’t see that person’s posts in our feed. Most of the feed content is time-based (i.e., showing up in the feed very close to when it was originally posted).  In addition to the Instagram feed, the platform also features Instagram Stories, where you can view 15-second “commercials” from the people and brands you follow.  Instagram is definitely social – the whole point is to interact with the people you follow. You can buy things through the ads, but the main goal of Instagram is to keep people on the platform by entertaining them via the content.  The Facebook Platform Facebook allows you to have a business page. You can post updates about your business, share links, and share yours, or other people’s, content.  People don’t often see business pages in their feed since you have to “pay to play” for the most part.  Facebook groups are more community-based.

Realtors — this one’s for you! See how this super smart agent uses Pinterest for real estate. It’s opened up SO many opportunities for her business and helped her to stand out above the crowd! Do you want to know how to have amazing results on Pinterest? Don’t we all?  Well, stay tuned because today I am talking to a real estate agent and interior design expert who is killing it on Pinterest. The first time we talked, she absolutely blew me away with how intensely she dove into Pinterest marketing.  In this podcast episode, she’ll be sharing her business journey from real estate to interior design, and stories about how she had people reaching out to her to learn more about content on her Pinterest page.  During these uncertain times, this business owner has been able to pivot her business. People are buying houses less, but she’s created a pathway to generate new revenue and is getting shocking results on Pinterest.  Related: Pinterest Marketing During Crisis Times I hope this story inspires you – not to change your business to real estate or interior design – but to really think about the full journey that your audience is taking when they work with you.  And if you haven’t yet, I encourage you to download the Simple Pin Pinterest Planner. It’s a powerful tool that will help you with your Pinterest marketing. With 20 pages of monthly trends, stat tracking, checklists, and more, the 2020 Planner is amazing resource and it won’t overwhelm you.  Pinterest for Real Estate Agents: A Viable Marketing Platform   Meet Nicole – A Real Estate Agent Whose Killing It On Pinterest Nicole Mickle is a real estate agent based out of Orlando Florida with a love for all things marketing. She gets most of her clients through online marketing via Instagram and (most recently) Pinterest. I met Nicole through our mutual friend, Jenny Melrose.  Before Nicole started using Pinterest for marketing  real estate, she knew it was a great place for her to find new ideas as a user. She never thought of it as a marketing platform that she could utilize for her own business.  Her “aha!” moment came when she discovered that her Pinterest boards were responsible for her website being connected to a “best communities in Orlando” article on Google. After she made this discovery, Nicole started to learn more about Google and Pinterest SEO and which opened up a whole new world of marketing opportunities for her. How Nicole Became a Pinterest Marketing Ninja in the Real Estate Niche The very first thing Nicole did was to clean up her Pinterest boards. She organized them in a way that she thought her audience would like.  Nicole was able to connect with someone who lived 15 minutes away from her who shared common business interests and was already using Pinterest. They started to talk, and ultimately met up to discuss what Nicole needed to do in order to use Pinterest for marketing.  This friend sat down with Nicole and introduced her about SPM and Jenny Melrose. She encouraged her to utilize the information we had available to create a list of action items to capitalize on Pinterest marketing. Nicole started listening to the

Are you trying to figure out how to work your Pinterest marketing during a crisis? To be honest, this is not a topic I ever imagined myself talking about.  During times of uncertainty, it can be really hard to think clearly and create a plan that is different than what you had planned before. It can feel overwhelming.  In this episode, I’m going to give you five strategies for effective Pinterest marketing that will help you as you navigate the current world events.  How SPM Can Support You Now SPM was started on the basis of supporting our clients. We began as a Pinterest management company, and over time, that merged into the realm of Pinterest marketing education.  My teaching has always been based on the philosophy that people need things that are simple, actionable, and true. Let’s look at some ways our team here at Simple Pin can support you during these uncertain times: The Simple Pin Facebook Group We have a Pinterest Strategy Facebook group that is completely free to join.  In that group, I commonly hear people say: “I heard this from so-and-so… what if I ruin my Pinterest strategy? What if I get penalized by Pinterest for that?” and on and on.  Here’s the thing– you don’t need only one person’s perspective or solution to an overall problem.  What we provide you at SPM are very simple things that have worked for our clients throughout our years of experience. We want to give you something that is very grounded, level-headed, and that has longevity.  We want your Pinterest marketing to help you grow a business that is sustainable through a time of crisis. We want you to be getting traffic from Pinterest that converts.  The Simple Pin Pinterest Planner Our Pinterest planner is 20 pages of monthly trends, stat tracking, checklists, and so much more.  You can print it off and use it as you are create a new plan for your Pinterest marketing throughout this time of uncertainty.  The Pinterest Image Guide Quality pin images are one of the most important parts of a solid Pinterest marketing strategy. You can get our eight-page Pinterest Image Guide PDF that teaches you how to create the best images for Pinterest.  This guide covers everything from the best sizing for your Pinterest images to optimizing your images for mobile devices.  SPM Start and Grow Email Sequences If you are brand new to Pinterest marketing, the Start email series is for you. Whether you’re just starting out creating your business or you don’t have a Pinterest profile set up yet, this will walk you through all the basics, step-by-step.  Related: How to Set Up a Pinterest Business Account from Scratch Maybe you’ve already gotten started and are in a phase where you’re not sure how to keep growing. We can help you with that. Our Grow email series helps push you to the next level in your Pinterest marketing.  The Simple Pin Collective  We are offering our Pinterest Insights Dashboard and 30 pin templates for free until April 30th when you join The Simple Pin Collective. 

Anytime Pinterest releases a new program, like the new Verified Merchant program, I try to watch from the sidelines for a bit before jumping in full-force. As a fact-finder, I prefer to stick to my predetermined podcast schedule and do my research before releasing content on the topic.  But since I know that many ofContinue reading

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  On today’s episode of the podcast, we’re talking about how photographers and other service providers can leverage Pinterest group boards in their business.  If you are not a photographer, you will still get some great tips from the episode, so stay tuned. There will also be some tips for those of you in theContinue reading

Learn how to take advantage of the Pinterest Trends keyword tool to maximize your presence on the Pinterest platform and drive more traffic to your site.   Just as soon as you think you have a platform all figured out, they change something, right? It happens with all the social media channels and it happensContinue reading