There’s a new kid on the block and she’s giving Google a run for its money: Pinterest.com (pin-te-rest) is a virtual bulletin board. You probably have a bulletin board that hangs on your wall at home, with cut-out pictures of things you want to get and postcards of places you’d like to go, right? –That’s what Pinterest is, except that you can have several boards, each centering around one of your interests and your followers can see what you’re pinning to your boards.
Here’s the kicker: Pinterest pages are bringing more traffic to my website and blog than Google and Facebook. You can attract traffic to your blog or website when you pin pictures from it onto your own Pinterest boards and when you add the Pin It button code (see mine at the end of this post).
As of this writing, Pinterest is so popular that the site has been up and down, which reminds me of the early days of Twitter. (Pinterest needs to fix their servers to accomodate their explosive growth. Be patient if you can’t access it for a few days, I’m sure they’ll fix it.)
Even though Pinterest is bringing more traffic to my website than Google and Facebook (check your Google Analytics and if you’ve been using Pinterest, probably the same is true for you) and I do recommend you start your own profile there, you should know that Pinterest is profiting from any pins that have affiliate links.
Is this a big deal?
Eh.
Maybe to some people it is a big deal that Pinterest did not disclose this information up front and now their shiny image is a little tarnished. There is somewhat of a backlash brewing about this, amongst some bloggers but when all is said and done, I think most Pinterest users won’t care.
LLSocial Has Two Good Posts You Should Read, If You Care About Pinterest Modifying Affiliate Links
LLSocial wrote a post that blew the whistle on Pinterest’s use of Skimlinks, which is a website that allows you to modify affiliate links or insert affiliate links. LLSocial wrote a follow-up story because its first story got 35,000 page views and was cited as the source in some high-profile websites, including the New York Times, CBS News and Mashable.
I find Pinterest particularly powerful when I combine it with Tweets and Facebook posts. Powerful, in the sense that, my brand gets more attention than usual. For example, I tweeted about an infographic that Brian Solis and his team created a few years ago and how it is still valid/ahead of its time. The link in the Tweet went to my Pinterest board of infographics. Brian re-tweeted my Tweet. Robert Scoble (Scobleizer) favorited my Tweet and I got a bunch of new, valuable, engaged followers in Twitter because of that one Tweet. (Thank you Brian and Robert!) Was it because of my using the Pinterest link in my Tweet or was it because I made a good point about Brian’s infographic (still valid/ahead of its time) or both? Not sure yet…
Pinterest is so knew that we are all still learning
I have to do more experimenting before I know for sure if injecting Pinterest juice into my Tweets is good strategy for growing my engaged followers in Twitter. First time out the gate, it worked.
Here is my Pinterest page: http://pinterest.com/lorigama/
Bottomline: Like with any new thing you’re considering using to promote your brand:
- Do some thinking about your strategy with Pinterest
- Have a goal
- Have fun with it and you’ll attract new fans who will naturally begin to like you and trust you and become part of your tribe.
If you need an invitation, I’ve got some left. Fill out my contact form and provide your email address and I’ll invite you. I’ll have another update on Pinterest in a couple more days for you.
How are YOU using Pinterest? For business? Or pleasure? Or both? Leave a comment, you know I love it when you do that. Pin It
