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Pinterest has been making waves in the world of social media, and with over 260 million unique monthly visits now is the time to start taking this site seriously.
You may be wondering what exactly Pinterest is and how you can use it to promote your photography business. If so, then stick around and check out some of our top tips on how to get started.
What Exactly is Pinterest?
Pinterest is a virtual pinboard where you can share and organize all the amazing images you find on the web. It is the perfect way to get inspiration and discover new things from people with the same interests as you.
Once you upload your images to Pinterest they are called pins. These pins can be used to create customized boards that are organized into whatever theme you want.
Dominated by the female market, with 59% of ‘pinners’ being women, Pinterest has been named one of the top five social networking sites by Time Magazine.
How do I Pin Stuff?
So once you sign up, it really is all about ‘pinning’! The truth is it’s pretty easy to pin stuff. You can upload an image, link to your favorite websites, or you can opt to install the ‘Pin It’ button straight to your bookmarks bar.
The great thing about Pinterest is you never have to worry about copyright issues or crediting the original source as every time to choose to pin something Pinterest grabs the web address and does all the hard work for you! All you have to do is pick your image, assign it to a board and add a funky little caption.
When it comes to creating boards try to stick to ones that focus on a niche, as this way you are more likely to catch the attention of people that share your interests.
What Should I Pin?
The possibilities are literally endless when it comes to what to pin, but some of the most popular pins right now include crafts, travel, architecture and of course delicious food stuffs. Being a Photographer, creating awesome collections of inspirational photographs is a good idea, but you can also create specific niche boards such as cool wedding pics if you’re a wedding photographer.
One thing that you will notice when checking out the leading pins is they are always visually stunning, completely unique, or extremely useful!
Of course you can simply pin whatever random stuff you stumble upon, but the real power behind this up and coming tool is your organization skills and how you can use them effectively when it comes to a certain project or theme.
Creating Boards
For the most effective user experience always ensure that anything you add to a specific board directly relates. This is the number one thing to keep in mind when trying to gain followers.
Create a cool title and add an interesting description that people will instantly connect with.
There are all sorts of reasons why you may create a board, it could be for…
- Recipes or cooking ideas
- Wedding inspiration
- Things to take on holiday
- Places you want to visit
- Redecorating a room
- Clothes you want to buy
Boards have the ability to have multiple contributors, meaning you can share your project with others or vice versa. It is super easy to invite people to contribute, just remember they have to be a follower first!
Finding Pinners
You may be wondering how it is that you find people who might want to follow you. We’re not promising that you’re going to end up with several million followers like Lady Gaga but try some of these top tips and who knows… if all goes well you may have several thousand followers six months down the line.
- Comment on other peoples pins
- Re-pin what your customers are pinning
- Follow pinners or boards that fall into your target market
- Create a pin with viral potential
- Encourage people to share your content
- Use hashtags
- Tag popular pinners
