Pinterest has taken the social media world by storm in a great way. Yes, you might take way too much of your time flitting around there, but do you have a smile on your face while you are on it? I bet the answer is yes. In case you don’t know Pinterest is the super chic visual bookmarking website that is slick and very user friendly. Over there you create a collection of virtual pin boards.
These boards consist of your favorite websites, blogs, photographs and more. You categorize each image and you share with others. People who follow you can then click through to the website it was pinned from to learn more about that photograph, website or blog post.
These days the majority of my blog traffic comes directly from Pinterest. Daily my readership grows as I gain followers. In order to become more visible I am very social over there. I pin quality content often ~ Many folks have told me how much traffic they have received from my pins of their stuff. Great benefits for ALL!
Being a visually minded person I crave quick snippets of information. I am the kind of gal who cannot be in one place for too long & I seek the beauty in everything. When Pinterest came along in 2011 I knew it would be the perfect place for me to organize & share all of the inspiration I find daily. I love following other peoples pins ~ they turn me on to a whole world of food, crafts, design, travel, lifestyle + more!
3 Ways to get your image Re-Pinned and improve Click-Thrus to your blog or website…
Above is a great example of how to get noticed on Pinterest.
- Shoot a great image (hint: people LOVE food)
- Crop it LONG (the image looks really BIG on Pinterest because it is vertical, horizontal images are a tougher read and appear too small)
- Add fun text and graphics (Pinterest is all about short term IMPACT. Make your statement BOLD and QUICK!)
Tips and Tricks for you!
Each of the photos in this post will take you straight over to some of my favorite boards. Also be sure to follow my boards to at http://pinterest.com/marlameridith/
You need an invitation to join in the Pinterest craze. Because I love you and want you to have tons of fun + inspiration daily I can send you an invite if you email me your email address. You can do that via my contact form.
The awesome Kim Stoegbauer from The TomKat Studio interviewed on of the three Pinterest co-founders Ben Silbermann for HGTV. Check that out to learn more about the passion and philosophy behind this genius invention.
At the bottom of this post I give you the opportunity to share links to your Pinterest account or your favorite pin boards.
Great for Visual Thinkers
Pinterest offers me quick visual inspiration that I can then further the experience to clicking through to the links. How great is that color palette above by Design Seeds? A new favorite blog f mine.
Helps Me Organize
Now I can I organize all my creative inspirations in one place, on my virtual pin boards.
So not only can I organize my inspirations, but my life too! Look at that gorgeous organization from the blog Art as Life.
Makes it Easy To Revisit Something
Nothing bugs me more than not being able to find a creative idea I fall in love with. Pinning my favorites makes it simple to re-visit these finds. All I need to do is dash over to my boards and glance at my well categorized themes. I have found so many new blogs through Pinterest.
There are so many great photographers out there & now I can keep track of their beautiful photo shoots via my “Photographers” board. Above is a great image by Z’s the Day Photography and Design.
Become your Own Curator
Ever have dreams of sharing your unique style? On Pinterest that is exactly what you do each time you pin, repin and like something.
Making New Friends
Not only do I blog about food, but my interests are vast.
There are so many blogs and websites I have learned about through Pinterest. From craft bloggers to weddings, photographers, artists, designers, travel, fitness, lifestyle, cool crafts and much more. Each day I am continuously blown away by the things I see.
One of my favorite pin boards is my Blythe Dolls collection. These little dolls fascinate me & beware: my two dolls just arrived from Japan so you will be seeing lots of them around here. Stay tuned.
Not only am I creating online relationships with shopkeepers on Etsy, but also new communities of friends who are into similar things. Not matter how unique or kitschy the interest.
Very Customizable
We all have unique interests and passions. What I love is that I can follow all of someone’s boards or just the few I am interested in. Life is too busy to be inundated with too much content. With Pinterest I can give and take what I want & leave the rest behind. Easy.
I also love that I can constantly rearrange my boards according to what my moods are. For instance, I will have certain holiday boards at the top of my collection timely with particular seasons. I move them lower on my arrangement once the holiday has passed. This makes it easier for people to find what they need. For instance since Valentine’s Day has passed I will move Easter up.
Build Blog Popularity
It is amazing how much my blog traffic has increased since I joined Pinterest. The most popular post from MarlaMeridith.com with the most pins so far is…Project LunchBox!
Pinterest has been by far my largest source of blog traffic. More than StumbleUpon, Facebook and all of the others combined.
Friendly & Social
I love the mindset over at Pinterest. People openly share ideas and inspiration. They are genuinely happy to be there & I can tell it is not just another chore on their internet sweeps.
The Perfect Palette has a HUGE and very loyal following. People love her pins and it is very obvious why.
I strike up new relationships with all kinds of folks. It is a dream of mine to get to Switzerland some day so I keyword #Switzerland to find others who share the same interests.
“Liking” and “Repining”
I “like” a whole lot of pictures so folks can follow along. I “Repin” those that I know I want to re-visit at some time down the road. Again, for me it all comes down to refining and knowing exactly what I want to look at all the time. De-cluttering my mind as much as I can along the way. Wonder Woman fascinates me. So she has her very own board.
“Likes” are awesome too, because then I know I can find the post again if I wish. These are not always in my line of vision though as my “pins” are.
User Friendly Links
If I love something more than just a quick glance, I enjoy the fact that I can easily click through to the blog or website by clicking on that photo. Direct links make life much easier.
The Pear Roquefort Salad is by my buddy Mike from Verses From My Kitchen. Not only is his photography stunning but his recipes need to be remembered. Having them on many of my food boards helps me pull up my favorites in a snap!
Shopping
I love to shop for everything! Fortunately and unfortunately Pinterest offers me many way to click through to store fronts to make online purchases. It is especially helpful for me to find stuff For the Home and Props.
I am a self proclaimed Etsy Addict so I pin and find a lot of Etsy goodies on Pinterest.
Do you love Pinterest? What are your favorite things to pin? What are your favorite pin boards to follow? Has your blog traffic grown vastly since you joined?
I would love if you linked up your Pinterest account too! This way we can all visit each other over there.
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Related Links
- I Want More Out of Pinterest Girl’s Guide to Social Media
- ReadWriteWeb If you’ve never heard of Pinterest…
I love it all… but I’m too addicted and spend too much time on it! You actually don’t need an invite from someone else anymore. My son just clicked the “request an invite” thing on their home page and received an email back from them to join. It was pretty easy.
Really? That is cool if the response was immediate. I tried for months before I had access to my own Pinterest account ~ even with invites. It was a bit frustrating because I wanted on so badly. That is cool that Recipe Boy got a quick email back. Guess they might have changed things over there! Thanks for sharing 🙂
LOVE pinterest. Seriously. I’m such a visual person, too. I hate scrolling through words.That’s why I set up my recipe page as pictures, too.
Alex, makes sense to set up your recipe page like that. I often think of doing the same with my own.
What’s NOT to love about Pinterest? 🙂
I’m seriously on pinterest every single day. I just love it so much! 😀 I love the things that you pin too…they are always such beautiful photographs. 🙂 Here’s my pinterest account: http://pinterest.com/chocandcarrots/
Caroline, thanks for sharing the link to your Pinterest boards. LOVE THEM!
Love those Blythe dolls
I love Pinterest too! Greatest thing invented! Love your post
I love Pinterest too! It is such a great invention. Quite addictive…
Cheers,
Rosa
Rosa, and I love your pins! Often re-pinned 🙂
LOVE it… just started on it last week… already addicted!
Rachel, beware the more you are on it the more it will suck you in!!
Pinterest has done more for my love of food, cooking, recipes, photography, and just overall life! than just about anything else out there. It’s to me today, what discovering food blogs was to me 5 years ago. Not to mention, the viral nature of it can put life into blog posts I thought were dead and gone and also find out about some amazing recipes on sites I’d never have found otherwise. I love Pinterest!!!!!!!!!!
Averie, that is so true. Pinterest allows me to find things I never would have. Yes! It certainly can breathe life back into posts I wrote forever ago. Neat stuff. For me these days I would rather surf things through there than anywhere else.
I’m another addict. I already spend too much time there and am not looking forward to having six weeks of bed rest after surgery because I know I’ll get all pinned out. But it’s so much fun! I love seeing what other people have pinned and connecting with old friends and new.
@Teawench, sorry to hear you will be on a 6 week bed rest. I hope everything goes smoothly with your surgery & recovery. Pinning will keep you really busy & that is a great thing. Bet you will learn lots over there ~ just be beware of the shopping it encourages!
I love love Pinterest! It is so, so addicting, though. I am a visual thinker, daydreamer, organization freak and I find myself spending so much time on there.
I love your boards, Marla! I’ve been pouring through them like mad! 🙂
Thanks Nikki! So glad you are enjoying my boards. I get such a thrill out of putting each & every one together!
I don’t use Pinterest … yet! Sites on social media and networking are increasing with the speed of light ….. Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, YouTube, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Vimeo, Instagram, StumbleUpon, Digg, ….. ah, I think my head’s gonna start spinning!
Pinterest is definitely is a great platform to ‘pin’ & share, make friends, and for exposure. But I came across a post here some time back about how the original link of the picture’s owner is lost. Not sure if Pinterest worked on it & corrected that glitch.
Nisha, that is very true. There are so many social media sites. I stick to Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Instagram & of course Pinterest.
From as far as I can see each time I click a link it goes directly & very cleanly to the source. Thank goodness because I would not want it any other way. Things like StumbleUpon seem to loose elements of the original post. That can be very annoying.
Thanks for posting this Marla. What a great way to share an awesome social media tool. Love it!
Love Pinterest, but it does become quite the obsession and time sinker. I could sit there all morning and pin. Love Pinterest as a way to organize recipes, things I’d like to read about later, and items I’d like to buy one day.
Jeanette, it is very helpful for items I would like to read about later. A great way to bookmark.
great post, Marla! So thorough, so organized – you’ve said it all, Baby! xx
It’s a pleasure to browse through everything on Pinterest though I have to say I’m still a bit confused about how to use it. Must sit with it this weekend.
Nisrine, take some time to play around a little bit. Before you know it you will be a pinning pro!
Love this. I’m already addicted to Pinterest but even I kept my boards rather slim. I see so much potential in keeping myself organized and finding inspiration in one spot. And more. Thanks for including my shot, always appreciated Marla!
Mike, I love all of your posts. So many of your photos and recipes are on my boards 🙂 Thanks for giving us so much beauty, joy and temptation to look at!
Fantastic, beautiful post! Pinterest is so beneficial to us bloggers. I get a little guilty surge of joy each time I find a new photo of mine has been pinned.
Erin, me too!! When I am over there and see one of my posts I get so happy 🙂
Great post! I am also a pinterest addict. I love being able to visually catalog my food, design and craft ideas. It’s awesome!
Pinterest is so addictive, yet a great social media & bookmarking tool. Great post Marla, and thanks for sharing your knowledge with all of us 🙂
I’ve become a pinterest addict lately and it’s a dangerous thing! And also…an awesome thing.
What a great post, Marla. It is very helpful and informative for someone who has never used it. I learned a lot as I just started actively pinning not too long ago. Your pins are all wonderful and inspiring. Happy Weekend! xx
I prefer to follow food, crafts, smart solutions and sayings 🙂 And on the rare occasions I find a Pagan or Heathen out there.
I love how Pinterest has actually helped me organize my life. I am such a visual person and I love pinning recipes I want to try one day or as I call it “Feed Me” because what I really want is someone to just make it for me. Ha!
Great post Marla, very informative.
I LOOOOOOOOOOOVE Wonder Woman, and love that you have a board just for her!! 🙂
oh my gosh thank you so much for the shout out Marla! I’m always repinning your delicious shares too 🙂 you’re always keeping me hungry 😉 (my husband especially liked your Wonder-woman pin ~snort~) lol
mine is http://pinterest.com/zstheday/
I love Pinterest! It’s one stop shopping for pretty much everything 😉 And I’ve also found it’s a great pick-me-up — so full of positivity!
Liz, I agree. Pinterest always puts me in a light and happy mood too!
Gorgeous Marla!! A wonderfully inspiring post for anyone not sure why they’d want to get started on Pinterest…. It’s pretty clear now! Just pinned your wonderful post to to my Pinterest Tips and Hacks board! http://pinterest.com/easylunchboxes/pinterest-tips-hacks/
Thanks for sharing this post o Pinterest Kelly. I love following your boards too!
Pinterest should be loving you for this post, Marla! I wish I’d had this to read when I first started on Pinterest — it’s a perfectly organized tutorial! Well done! (As always!) 😀
Thanks Valentina! I had a great time putting this post together 🙂
This is definitely a happy post. I love this! I agree with ALL you have said. I use Pinterest to keep my “food” organized. I love all the creativity floating around, it really inspires me beyond words! I actually made bookmarks for Valentine’s day b/c of an idea I saw on Pinterest, I am not a crafty girl at all, so it was fun for me to find something like that. I love all the themed boards too…so fun, all of it 🙂
Aggie, I am not too crafty either ~ seeing all of the great ideas out there have greatly inspired me too.
Yup, I’m hooked. http://m.pinterest.com/cass0289/
Oh. I just LOVE Pinterest. I especially love pinning fashion, infographics, images reflecting health and wellness and many more!
Love following your pins on Pinterest, Marla! Such a bright spot in my day 🙂
I agree, Marla, Pinterest is great for visual thinkers (like me)!
I equally love Pinterest. It is a great way to keep so many ideas, inspiration and work organized. Not to mention a great way to share the things you love. Thanks for such an informative post!
I just joined Pinterest about a week ago. Am liking it so far. Here’s mine: http://pinterest.com/gapey/
After I’d just been on Pinterest a few weeks, I was showing my hubs something on there, and he looked at the top and said, “Do you really have over 1000 pins?” Busted!
I use it for:
– saving links to recipes (of course)
– collecting visuals for other people to review: kitchen options for my husband to check out when we were remodeling; color schemes for a graphic design client; things that just make me laugh so when I need a pick-me-up, they’re there.
– “market” research; I watch which pins are popular for clues as to what blog posts might have broad appeal.
Jana, sounds like you have caught the bug too 🙂 Great to use it for the remodel & your clients too. I need to go check out your boards now!
I love Pinterest, it’s a great source of inspiration for me. I pin beautiful photos and mouthwatering recipes that I want to remember.
What a great post marla, so true I see you all over Pinterest LOL!
Amanda ~ soooo all over Pinterest!
Great post! I can attest the huge boost in traffic! You repinned one of my photos and I instantly had 50-100 more people checking out my blog for a week or two afterwards! Pinterest is definitely where it’s AT at the moment! Thanks again for the exposure! I love following all of your beautiful finds!
Michelle
http://mwfoto.bigfolioblog.com/
My Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/mwfoto/
I am always inspired by your pins. Your photos are amazing…and yes, Pinterest is ADDICTING!
Great info, thank you so much! I didn’t think about how vertical images are better seen, and it’s so true! I think most of my text/images that I want pinned are horizontal, though I shoot mostly vertical! Will change that;)
Just found you and this post, haha, on Pinterest. Great info. I have a question-Inoticed in most of your examples, you add a hashtag with a label. Does this help you search your pins later or is it for something else? Following you now in PInterest and Facebook.
Joan, I have not found the hashtag to be too helpful in searches. I keep using it regardless ~ thinking that one day the bots will use it to locate keywords.
Great Pinterest tips! I am so addicted, it is such a great tool!! I have a ton of boards and I also get a lot of traffic to my blog via Pinterest! 🙂
Thanks Marla. I am basing my Pinterest boards on things that are visually appealing, from food to flowers and so much more. I really enjoy Pinterest and all of your ideas above. Since I am passionate about food, I have pinned a boatload of food photos!
Pinterest http://pinterest.com/eatdesignlive/
PS What software do you use to put the text on your images?
All the best.
Hi Lanny!
Isn’t Pinterest the best?! I use a combination of Photoshop & Illustrator. Best of luck with your pinning 🙂
Thank you for all these great tips! It’s so nice to see people helping people! We just got our blog started so I’m always looking for ways to get people to “look” at us!
http://www.pinterest.com/MakingLifeWhimsical/
Congrats!! It is such a fu journey starting a new blog. Glad you found my post helpful!
Thank you Marla for the awesome post! I just set up my Pinterest and can already see traffic coming from there, not much, but everyday a bit more! I learned a lot from your post here! I just followed you, if you have time, check back at me! Have a nice weekend! Hugs from Istanbul!!
http://pinterest.com/Just1WayTicket/
Hi Sab! I am thrilled that you are seeing some traffic boost to your Pinterest following. Thanks for sharing your link I will head over & check it out now.
Thanks Marla for posting this easy to follow guide. I have just started on pinterest and I have to be honest I am still a bit confused.
Love your Blog Marla! So much Useful information. Thank you. I’m relatively new to Pinterest. Just recently started taking pictures of my cooking and uploading. It has become a Huge Addiction! When you get a chance please visit my Pinterest Board and if you have any comments or suggestions that would be Wonderful!
http://www.pinterest.com/annavil/my-cooking/
Awesome! Welcome to the awesome world of Pinterest!
I agree on Pinterest being a #1 traffic source…I love the thrill of a pin going viral! I missed the linky deadline above, but my boards can be found at: http://www.pinterest.com/2sisters2cities/
Have a great weekend!
m
Pinterest is my definite guilt pleasure.
You have some great pins and boards. Ive just started following you.
http://www.pinterest.com/dianakeith/m-a-k-e-on-my-to-do-list
Love your blog! Check me out on Pinterest here: http://www.pinterest.com/happysolez/pins/
Thanks and take care – Katherine A.