Pinning madness! I'm consumed by all of the pins placed on the boards around me. Most of you probably have NO idea what I'm talking about. I'm talking about Pinterest. Pinterest is exactly as it sounds, a place to pin your interests, essentially a virtual inspiration board and, as I'm learning, a picture, marketing, impressionist, and profit making board.
I started on Pinterest, an invitation only program, a few months ago and quickly became addicted to the new reality of virtual shopping without spending a dollar. That was until I started finding items that I was pins over needles about - items I just had to have - items that when I clicked through to find out where to buy them for the most part I was in utter disappointment! Why? Because, most of my "must click to buy now" pins were SOLD OUT. Which led me to realize that there was some profit in this whole Pinterest craze. Get your item pinned by one person, it goes out to their network, if someone re-pins it, it then spreads to their network, and so on and so on until you have enough people clicking through to purchase and voila - you've sold out = Pins to Profit.
In August of last year, Time Magazine, published Pinterest in it's "50 Best Websites of 2011" column. As it should with it's estimated 11 million visits per week!
If that isn't reason enough on why you should have interest in Pinterest, try this on for size. Pinterest, in my opinion, is the most influential social media platforms born to date, when it comes to actually making a profit. And I'm assuming you would rather profit than read a tweet, decipher the new Facebook timeline, or link up with your ex co-workers in hope for a recommendation.
Pinterest gives you the ability to get your products in front of a large mass for free. Here's a perfect example, I'd been on the hunt for a new rug to go under our new dining room table for quite a while when I started on Pinterest. Through some of the people I follow, they pinned a large amount of home decor ideas. One friend, Meghan, posted a rug that I liked, so I clicked on it and it clicked through to the site she pinned it from, RugsUSA.com. On their site I found a similar rug that was perfect for my dining room and I bought it. Pin to Profit. Got it?
Now don't sit there and mumble; "I don't have a tangible product, I don't sell rugs Stephanie." It doesn't matter what you are selling, if you are a photographer to an event planner, to a bridal boutique, to a cupcake shop, you can make money by making your pictures pin-able!
How to be more visible, and pin-able, for profit:
1. Picture. The biggest part of Pinterest is the picture images that are pinned by the users. In order for you to get your product, company, and interests pinned you need to have pictures available on the web that can be pinned. The more pictures you have the more likely you are to be pinned by someone. Example: One local bakeshop has great pictures of their cupcakes on their website. I can pin one of these pictures and through my network their cupcakes and company will spread and people may go to their shop and buy their cupcakes or hire them for a special event.
2. Pin. The easiest way to get something pinned is for you to pin it yourself. Pinterest is somewhat internal, i.e. most pins have been re-pinned. So to get your picture into the Pinterest mix, it's best for you to pin it first and allow others to re-pin it for you so it will spread throughout the network. Example: My wedding photographer started posting pictures he has taken on Pinterest. I re-pinned him onto my Wedding Board, other's have commented or repined the picture creating brand awareness for him.
3. Impress. You initial goal, should you choose to accept it, is to begin Pinterest with the interest of making impressions. Get the picture (word) out there through the pins you post. Allow others to re-pin them and spread the word for you. Eventually business and profit will follow.
Ready to begin your own pins to profit campaign? Send me a message with your name and email by going to my Sales Barista Facebook page and I'll send you a personal invitation to join Pinterest!
I'm your Double-Tall, Non-Fat, No-Whip Sales Barista. How may I help you help yourself?
Stephanie Melish, one of the few, hand-selected, Gitomer-Certified Speakers is the ONLY Double-Tall, Non-Fat, No-Whip Sales Barista in the world! Stephanie trains, sells, and speaks to companies and associations all over the country. To book Stephanie for your next event, please visit www.GitomerCertified.com or contact the friendly folks at Buy Gitomer via email at hirestephanie@gitomer.com or by calling 704-333-1112.
No comments:
Post a Comment