for Your Business

By Aliza Sherman How businesses can leverage the popular niche social network.

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Pinterest defined:

According to Pinterest, their site is a Virtual Pinboard. On it’s About page, Pinterest explains that you can use their site to:

•  Organize •  Share •  Discover •  Get inspiration

This kind of visual exploration and expression makes sense for an individual. But what about for a company or brand? How can a small business, for example, use Pinterest to their advantage?

Before we take a look at some ways that businesses are already using Pinterest, let’s first talk a little bit more about how Pinterest works.

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A few Pinterest stats

•  Pinterest has over 10.4 million registered users, 9 million monthly Facebook-connecting users, and 2 million daily Facebook users. (Inside Network, 2012)

•  97.9% of Pinterest users are female. (Inside Network, 2012)

•  Pinterest drives more traffic than Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn combined. (Shareholic, 2012)

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Pinterest is still by invitation only Anyone with an account can easily invite you.  

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But this does create a sense of exclusivity.  

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How Pinterest works…

Pinterest provides a way for you to showcase your tastes, affinities, interests and style. You do this through “Pins” on “Boards” that represent different categories.

You can set up as many boards and pins as you’d like. You can pin images you find on the web using the Pinterest “Pin It” bookmarklet, a button that you can add to your web browser. You can take images with your smartphone and upload them to your Pinterest account and to any board you specify or upload images from your computer.

You can follow other “Pinners,” and they can follow you back, similar to Twitter with your followers and following. You can also “Like” other people’s pins, comment on them, and “Repin” them to one of your boards.

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Pinterest elements

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A Pin   A Board  

A Repin  

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Pinterest interactions

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A Comment   Likes & Repins  

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#Pintip: Follow others with care When you follow others on Pinterest, you can either click the red button under their photo or logo to follow all their Boards, or you can choose to follow specific individual boards.

Don’t feel compelled to follow everything from everyone. Being selective about your follows helps keep your Pinterest stream more relevant, less cluttered and “repinable.”

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Install the “Pin It” button

Follow the instructions on the Goodies page to install the “Pin It” button (pinterest.com/goodies) on your web browser.

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Create Boards

You can create a Pinterest board, name it, and categorize it. Pinterest starts you off with some default boards such as Places and Spaces and My Style. You can edit those board names to anything that makes sense for you. Pinterest can display up to 9 of your most recent images per board on your profile page.

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Pinning from your browser

When you’re at a website that contains an image you’d like to pin to one of your boards, just click the Pin It button on your web browser that you’ve already installed.

You’ll see a selection of images – and video – that is “pinable.” Choose a larger version of the image you want, if available.

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Pinning from the Web From the Pinterest website, you can also click the “Add+” link at the upper right side of your Pinterest page. From there you can choose to add a Pin by entering a URL of a site, and Pinterest will search that site for pinable images. You can also upload a Pin from your computer or create a new Board.

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#PinTip: Fill up your Boards Fill up a Board so it appears complete on your Pinterest profile page. This takes only 9 images to appear complete. Incomplete boards look sloppy and convey a lack of interest.

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#PinTip: Rearrange your boards As you create and fill up your boards, you can rearrange them to better convey what you want others to know about you and your business. Prioritize your boards with the most relevant at the top. Boards at the bottom may be noticed less so keep this in mind as you are arranging.

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You can also position boards that aren’t yet completed toward the bottom. Some work in progress is perfectly acceptable.

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#Pintip: Collaborate

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Invite others to pin on your board to collaborate, organize and plan together, inspire and support one another…

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#PinTip: Check site “pinability.” If you want people to pin images or video from your site, you want to make sure your multimedia is accessible to Pinterest.

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NOTE: You can also prevent people from pinning your site:  

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#PinTip: Add the “Pin It” button If you want to encourage pins of images or video on your site, you can add the “Pin It” button to your site. Go to the Goodies page in Pinterest’s Help section.

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#Pintip: Pinterest widgets

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You can access widgets to display your pins on your WordPress site or blog. Search for Pinterest in the widget directory.

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Things to do with Pinterest

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Get inspiration. Organize images. Drive traffic. Build a brand. Reach new audiences. Engage with consumers. Hold a contest. Display products. Demonstrate expertise. Promote events. Showcase clients or portfolio.

Introduce your team. Promote places or things. Bookmark sites. Aggregate content. Share on Facebook & Twitter. Show pins on your site. Let people pin your site content. Share “behind-the-scenes.” Tell a story. Collaborate. Educate.

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Brands That Pin

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Here’s a list of some brands using Pinterest:

Nordstrom – http://pinterest.com/nordstrom Bergdorf Goodman – http://pinterest.com/bergdorfs Whole Foods – http://pinterest.com/wholefoods Chobani – http://pinterest.com/chobani Cabot Cheese – http://pinterest.com/cabotcheese West Elm – http://pinterest.com/westelm Michaels – http://pinterest.com/michaelsstores Better Homes & Gardens – http://pinterest.com/bhg Real Simple – http://pinterest.com/realsimple Scholastic – http://pinterest.com/scholastic Uncommon Goods – http://pinterest.com/uncommongoods Birds Barber Shop – http://pinterest.com/birdsbarbershop Domestica – http://pinterest.com/domestica

Pinterest for Your Business

Presented by Aliza Sherman info@mediaegg.com @alizasherman TechWithAliza.com pinterest.com/alizasherman

Follow me at http://pinterest.com/alizasherman & http://pinterest.com/momincorporated

This presentation contains highlights from a recent teleseminar.

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