Pinterest – What is all the Interest?

Ok, so I have finally decided to see what all the fuss is about over there at Pinterest.  I only ever started an account as it was a little task we had to do in one of the groups I am in.  I set up a username, but that was about it.  Then every day I was receiving notifications that this person and that person were following me. Great! Every time I received an email I cringed a little inside.  I knew my Pinterest profile was rubbish and that I did only have one board titled ‘Other People's Pins', as I did not have a clue what I was doing.

I also had the little voice in the back of my head telling me what I have told many a new person on social media – ‘Don't open an account if you are not going to set it up properly, it is like opening up a shop and having nothing to sell'. By this time I was a complete hypocrite.  The articles about Pinterest were swirling round the internet and I had been trying to pretend that this whole thing was not another social media site I needed to know about and that it would just go away.  Well, clearly it is not going away anytime soon.

There were a few final things in a row that had me finally pull my head out from the sand and start taking a good look at this Pinterest craze.

1. I subscribe to quite a few blogs and practically every blog had at least one article about Pinterest.

2. In my email this morning before I could even look at the real emails – I had to delete, no less than, 28 emails telling me that ‘so and so' was now following me on Pinterest. (cringe, cringe, cringe..)

3. In a casual conversation with one of my friends I mentioned that sometimes before I go to bed I might play a game of solitaire on my iPad.  She said, ‘Oh, Stacey, really, I would much prefer to have one last check in on my Pinterest account before going to bed, it is much more interesting than that'.

So, I went investigating this craze that had turned my perfectly sane and rational friend into a pinning frenziest!

I logged into my account and stared blankly at my empty boards and wondered what the heck I was going to do with them.  Ahh – YouTube will have all the answers.

The first video I found was this one – short and to the point, it explained what Pinterest was and how big it was getting, but not what to do.

Then I looked around for some that were going to tell me what to do and then this video caught my eye. Pinterest SEO – now we are starting to talk my language.  Thanks Kathy Dalpra! Kathy is a wedding professional that helps other wedding professionals with social media.  Her video is coming from that context but can be modified for any niche.  I personally found it quite informative.

Being the original thinker I am, all I could come up with to make a board about were my favourite books.  I found the Pinterest Chrome extension so that I could ‘pin' from any website and off I went, straight to Amazon.  Pinned a couple of books and then was bored of that and went off to find other things to do on the internet that were of more interest.

Not one to give up that easily I went back in for another go and found this little ‘how to' video that Beth Hunter made.

I was slightly inspired by her pumpkin board and went off to make a board of my favourite colour – Purple.  It started off well but then I kept forgetting to change the board name when I pinned something and had to go back and change everything around after I had finished, which was kind of frustrating. [A little word of warning for you!]

It does erk me that you have to leave a description for each of the pictures – is that not an oxymoron to – ‘A picture is worth a thousand words?'

So, that will give those of you, like myself, that did not have a clue what they were doing an idea of how to get started on Pinterest.  In an upcoming post I will share a few of the hundreds of blog articles out there about how to use Pinterest in your business.  Until then, I think I will stick with my favourite quotes and books. If you would like to check out my exemplary boards you can find me at – https://pinterest.com/staceymyers/.

Would love to hear if, and how, you are using Pinterest.

Leave your comments below!!

Stacey Myers, getting started, wordpress trainingStacey is a coach, trainer and speaker who supports Authors and Aspiring Authors create an online presence through WordPress and Social Media training. Stacey's hands-on style, supportive nature and extensive knowledge make her the perfect go-to resource.

About the author 

Stacey Myers

Coaching entrepreneurial women who have decided that mediocrity is no longer an option. From ordinary to extraordinary.

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  1. Stacey – I remember when I was a pinterest newbie too, wondering what is this thing and why would it use it? Well, it didn’t take too long before it became my defacto bookmarking tool and now I find myself going to pinterest to use it as a search engine. Need a recipe for something, examples of blue tile, photos of fiery sunsets…surely someone will have pinned one.

    Also a tip, if you want to let the image for itself, hit the space bar once or twice. That seems to satisfy the ‘words’ requirement.

  2. Hey Stacey,
    All I can say is “Press On”! Remember how lame Twitter seemed to begin with?
    So far my boards are mostly personal like my fur-kids or hoof-kids but I am going to start creating a board to experiment with photo contests and how to use it for SEO too.
    I will keep you posted with my results but for now I am a Pinterest-aholic
    ~Lauren

  3. Stacy,

    Clever post! I have only just signed up for Pinterest, and have yet to really make a board. Honestly, someone asked me to help be an admin, and I couldn’t figure out how to get my photo on their board.

    So, thanks for the tutorial video!!!! 😀

    ~Keri
    P.S. We share a favorite color – Purple.

    1. Hey Keri,

      Thanks for the comment – things are so simple once we know how.

      Maybe you can repin some of my purple pictures!

      Stacey

  4. Hi Stacey,

    Having never heard about pinterest you have enlightened me. Thanks for your post and now I can’t say I didn’t learn something today! Now I need to go and try it out for myself.

    David

  5. I’m new to Pinterest as well so thank you for the post. It seems Pinterest has changed it’s layout a bit from the videos already too – not sure how long it’s been around. I’m getting a few boards going and I’ve found can easily spend 30-60 minutes, quite easily. The food pics, nature pics and animal pics are so fun to look through. Thanks Stacey!

  6. Funny thing I have been wondering the same thing! What is all this fuss about Pinterest!! Thanks for educating me! I love your advise to not begin until you are ready to commit…

  7. I am super involved in so many social sites I was late to join this one. Thanks for this insightful post. Its bookmarked and I will refer to it often 🙂

  8. I am new to pinterest too but there you can find alot of get things to use for pictures, recipes, encouragment. Its great to see what things people are really interested in. Thanks for sharing !

  9. Just bookmarked this because it’s an awesome resource! Going to hold off on jumping into another social media site at the moment. If I can’t jump in both feet, then I’m going to hold off until I can =)

  10. Empowering post Stacey! The ironic thing is I kept seeing Pinterest referred to in my inbox. No I am not using it and up until now had no interest in learning more about it. After your post I will certainly check it out. Thanks!

  11. Great information on Pinterest. Everyone is asking the same questions it seems… This platform is going to be HUGE! So just touching the tip of it. Thanks for sharing. x0x
    The LEARNED Preneur @NormaDoiron.NET

  12. I joined Pinterest rather reluctantly too, Stacey. I had to laugh when you say you “cringe” every time you see someone following you, as I have the same reaction! I do have a little content up there, but my account is way less than impressive. I have to confess that I just don’t find it addictive like many do. It will be interesting to see how this affiliate link “scandal” that is all the current rage will effect them.

    1. Thanks for the comment, Jennifer. I also, do not find it as addictive as others. I think the affiliate link ‘scam’ thing will probably just go away – but who know?

  13. Thanks so much for all this great info in one place, Stacey! I hadn’t even heard of Pinterest until today and now my curiosity is piqued. I don’t know how I’ll find the time to take on yet another social media site but I love the idea of having an online vision board and putting pin boards together looks like fun!

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