I don’t think I’ve actually posted any tips and tricks about Pinterest on my blog yet. Can you believe it?! It’s the one and only social networking site where I have more than 11,000 followers and it drives a lot of traffic back to my website.

In case you haven’t heard of this brilliant site called Pinterest, let me introduce you. Pinterest is a virtual pinboard just like the corkboards we might have in our office. The one you cover in pins and inspiration. Pinterest has taken this same concept and created a social networking site that allows users to create photo collections (pin boards) online.

If you sign up to Pinterest you can choose to follow people with interests similar to you own. Here’s what my Pinterest home screen looks like (today).

It’s probably obvious from the picture above, but I follow a mix of people. Some post about food and recipes, some about business, some about home and decor.

My Pinterest account is a true reflection of who I am and what I like.

Pinterest currently has about 70 million users of which the majority is female (80%) but there are most definitely males on Pinterest too.

As you can see, there is a huge potential for your business on Pinterest, especially if your business targets women and has a visual component.

To get started on Pinterest, go to the site and create an account on their home screen that looks like this:

Once you’re logged in, Pinterest will ask you for your interest and you can start following people and create boards for the things you like.

Before starting your boards, have a think about naming your boards in a way that links back to your business. I recommend naming your boards with keywords in your title and use an accompanying category to make it easy for people to find your boards.

Here’s a sneak peek into my boards, which are mix of business related boards and things I love and want to save.
Once you have setup your account it is really as simple as creating boards and start adding things you love.

You can use the search function or the category drop-down at the top right of the search bar to look for things in certain categories. The sky is the limit.

Next time we’ll look at how to use Pinterest for your business. See you soon on Pinterest!