5 Ways to Build Influence with Pinterest

Pinterest is a snazzy network where you can discover a wide array of crafts, home decor, and friends to inspire you in many areas of your life. When you talk to anyone who uses Pinterest, they might humorously caution you on how addicting fascinating their network is. You might scoff and laugh this caution off as if it’s nothing, but after spending 2 hours there without noticing those 2 hour has passed, you’ll quickly agree. If you’re a busy blogger with a life outside of Pinterest, you’ll want to maximize your time there with minimal time wasted. It can be an enjoyable time (when you have the time), but if you’re looking to maximize your influence on Pinterest, then try the 5 tips listed below.

Influencing through Pinterest

As with any network that is continually growing, you’ll need to find ways in which to get the most out of your time and find ways to maximize your influence. I enjoy Pinterest as many of my friends do, but my time is valuable so I needed to fine tune my time there to get the best results from their network.

I noticed many things that frustrated me about how others go about their pinning, but instead of giving a list of what not to do, I’ll turn it around and give some tips on what you can do to build your influence on Pinterest. For more information on Pinterest ethics, see what Darcy had to say here.

We can’t make everyone else be better at pinning, but we can be better pinners ourselves so people will trust what we pin to our boards.

Manual Pinning: For the times you want to manually pin something to your board, be sure you are pinning to the exact URL of the article you want to pin. Do not pin to an archive link or the main URL of the site you’re on. When people come along to discover your pin they will end up being directed to a page where that image and/or article doesn’t exist. You can get the direct URL of the article (from most blogs) by clicking on the title of the post then look at the URL window above.

Everything Autumn

Pinterest Plug Ins: If you want people to pin your articles correctly, then offer a Pinterest button to your blog’s posts from any number of Pinterest Plug Ins. If you use Blogger, you can add a similar feature to your blog by following the Add Pinterest to Blogger instructions here. If a blogger offers this type of feature, use it instead of doing it manually.

Re-Pinning: Be sure you’re re-pinning pins that contain their original links. It’s frustrating to click on an image to see if their are instructions on how to make the item only to find it doesn’t go to the original article. If the pin doesn’t have the original link, but you value the item enough to do some digging; then see if the site has a search engine you can use to find the item. I found most sites give me the exact result if I type in the title of the item I am looking for. Then manually pin the item yourself instead of using the re-pin option.

Everything Winter

Don’t Spam Your Own Boards: Whether it’s your business or someone else’s, I recommend you not spam your boards with items that are for sale. Try creating a board that is specifically for that purpose such as, “On my wish list”. Then people will feel more comfortable looking at those pins.

Pinning in Excess to Facebook: Many people like to connect their pinning activty to Facebook, but that can become cumbersome to your Facebook friends. Try being more selective on which pins you share with that audience. You can also add the link (to your Pinterest’s daily activity) to Facebook in the evening after dinner. Simply log in then look at your Pinterest toolbar for “activity”. Click there, then look at the URL window to get the link. It should look something like this: http://pinterest.com/sisterlisa/activity/

You can follow my boards on Pinterest and Pix-O-Sphere has a few boards as well.

Do you have any tips or tricks to managing your Pinterest?

Lisa blogs at The HomeSpun Life and is a contributor at The Homeschool Post. She enjoys blogging, photography, and cooking. Her homeschooling family is active in their community and enjoys traveling with friends and family.