Does Pinterest Have What It Take To Challenge The Social Media Giants?

Does Pinterest Have What It Take To Challenge The Social Media Giants?

It is difficult to take on social media giants such as Facebook but it is nice to see ambitious projects offering an alternative. Competition is what drives any industry towards innovation and social media makes no exception from the rule.
Pinterest attempts to offer an alternative to the other social media website by offering a clean looking bookmarking website. The website focuses on content "pinning" instead of profile building. Just like with its brothers and sisters, the website offers its users the ability to post, share and comment on each other's photos and videos. The interface is different from its competitors. It promotes a clean and enjoyable look.

Users are able to share their interests with the help of virtual pin boards such as Places I'd Like to Go, My Style, People I Admire, Dream Home. If these boards are not enough for some, custom ones can be setup by any user.
For businesses, Pinterest holds the same viral marketing value as other social media websites. Any website owner or any other kind of seller and social marketer can use the website to promote its business. Each shared media on the website gets viewed by all the friends of that particular business. If one of them likes that particular post, all the friends of that persons sees it also.
The website has great potential for SEO purposes. It offers a great way to increase traffic with a minimal effort invested. Users are generally interested in viewing and sharing good deals or other valuable content.
Currently Pinterest is lacking the features offered by Facebook's apps and games. Without a doubt, these features will make their way onto the website once it gains more popularity. At this point, the website seems to receive only positive reviews and its growth potential might make Pinterest a genuine competitor in the social media industry.

Pinterest Tutorial

Pinterest Tutorial 

An easy guide to getting started on Pinterest.

How to successfully use Pinterest

How to successfully use Pinterest

Social media and networking has made our lives convenient and easy going. Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus+ are popular names. However, there is one more social networking site that is slowly emerging as a leader on the social media front on account of the large number of visitors. Many of us are still unfamiliar with this site and have no idea about how you can make it work to your advantage. So, let’s understand about Pinterest.

What is Pinterest?

Pinterest is an online pin board that allows users to pin and share their favorite images. You can organize these pictures in selected categories. Whenever you pin something, your followers will be updated about it. You can like a particular brand or product, comment on it and re-pin it to others. Pinterest has gained tremendous popularity mainly because of its potential as a valuable marketing tool. Business owners can pin images of any new product. There are links for every image you pin. Thus, it directs visitors to your online shop or website. To further drive traffic to your site, it is necessary that you learn the tips and tricks to use it effectively.
Will integrating Pinterest with other social networks make a difference?
What was the reason for Pinterest’s explosive growth?  The answer is its integration with other social networking sites. Social network sites like Facebook are very popular with an enormous fan following. Daily users spend a considerable amount of time on Facebook. Pinterest included an App on Facebook to give users direct access to the page dispensing with the need to furnish login details every single time. Thus, Logging in at Pinterest is an easy and effortless task
Integrating your account with social sites especially Facebook is very beneficial.  The members on the users contact list will be able to view their likes and pins via FriendFeed. It could also probably force them to check a brand out of sheer curiosity and may ultimately make them followers. Besides, social sites like Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus+ are also used increasingly as marketing tools. You can also invite friends via email.

How to setup and use a Pinterest Account

How to setup and use a Pinterest Account

You must either request an account through Pinterest itself or have a registered friend send you an invite to Pinterest.  At this time, these two methods are the only ways to gain access to Pinterest. The waiting list may vary. You need a little patience. However if you do get an exclusive invite from a friend or user, you can avoid the waiting list in most cases.

After you accept the invitation, you will need to go to the Pinterest homepage and use your Facebook or Twitter credentials to register.  Once you are logged into the main page, you may be asked to find some interests to follow. The categories range from art to products and many more, there is no limit to the number of categories that you can follow.

Changing Your Account Preferences

Any time that you feel like changing your account settings, you can do so by going to your profile at the top right side of the toolbar. You will find the settings button with which you can make necessary changes to your profile. Besides the settings button, you will also find other options like invite friends, find friends, boards, pins and others. You can use these tools to interact with other Pinners.

Some actions are irreversible, like deactivating your account.  It’s not like setting off a nuclear bomb, but the warning makes it feel like it is though. It intends to make you think twice, or lots of times really, in your idea of leaving Pinterest. It lists other possible options you can choose from to encourage you to stay at Pinterest.

Now, the fun part is not deactivating the cool account.  You can change your email address to a less formal one, for example, you can drop off the company email with a personal one. On the email settings tab, you can easily customize a ton of options from likes to group pins. Once you finished tweaking your account, hit the save settings to save your preferences.

Going back again to the main setting screen from the notification section, you can easily change your name from Joe to Super Joe. The last name can be changed as well, in case of the occasional spelling error. The about section is your fame frame, it’s a permanent fixture about you. However, you can always change it to suit your needs or style.  You can add your personal or company’s website in the URL box after the location box.

Say cheese, add an image for the world to see or leave it blank. You can either have your Pinterest linked to Twitter or Facebook. You may also opt to interact with the world by turning on the visibility button or you may choose to turn it off and have your Pinterest account visible only to you.

10 Pinterest Traffic Tips

10 Pinterest Traffic Tips

There is a plethora of social sites which we are all familiar with. However in recent times, Pinterest, the new entrant has measured tremendous growth and popularity attracting unique visitors each day.

This free online scrapbook helps you organize your WebPages, images, and videos based on your interests. It allows you to lookup and share images on the Web.  Pinterest is a magical tool you can use to promote your business and increase the traffic to your site. Users are all praise for Pinterest as it brings in double the amount of visitors compared to other sites.  Here are tips to use Pinterest to attract visitors and spread word about any new product on your line.

#1. Small business owners and retailers can add the “Pin It” button to their site. This is one way to drive referral traffic.

#2. You need to spend adequate time to explore this site. It helps you identify the relationships that are vital for business growth.


#3. It is advisable to follow users with maximum likes and re-pins. On the other hand un-follow pins or persons who you think are not very beneficial.

#4. The key to driving traffic is a simplistic and uncluttered pin board design. You pin images on your pin board with a link directing visitors to your site.  The picture you post should be interesting and enticing.

#5. Develop your list of followers based on your niche.

#6. Your business should be relevant to what the site caters to. Only then will you be able to get the maximum benefits for increasing traffic.

#7. Integrating Pinterest with other already existing social networks will also contribute greatly. These social networking sites have their loyal fans who can be directed towards Pinterest.

#8. You can create daily themed pins with catchy and humorous slogans.  This process is an effective method to get re-pinned often as visitors come back for updates on any new activity.

#9. You can also add news tidbits and simple self written articles for your followers giving them more than product promotion. 

#10. You can create awareness about your business by following the bigwigs on the Pinterest site or by supporting a charitable cause.

5 Ways You Can Profit From Pinterest

5 Ways You Can Profit From Pinterest

 Pinterest is the latest and probably most effective gateway to marketing your company, especially if it is visually rich. It is continuously climbing up the rankings with more than 10 million users since its launch in 2010. With this fast rise in popularity, and its feature of allowing pinning of pictures that links to your company’s website, why not can a social media like this profit you?



 There are actually lots of ways to maximize Pinterest for profiting  both personally and business wise. Here are the first 5 ways on how you can do that:



1. Create a board pin that features your products. Put in a keyword-dense description and catchy phrases. You can even opt to offer your other pins as freebies. This can attract pinners and your followers to constantly visit your board. This type of board is great especially for affiliate marketing.

2. Create a board that showcases yourself and what you are good at. This is an authority board, a great way to drive traffic to your website that features your specializations. There are many website owners’ reporting  that most of their traffics come from Pinterest. Better maximize it  for driving traffic back to  your own websites and blogs.

3. Create a board pin to collaborate with other pinners. Collaborating and networking are vital if you want to stay long in this industry. You have to build relationships based on trust and camaraderie. Show appreciation to your followers by welcoming them, sharing great pins with them, liking and repining their pins, and acknowledging their efforts. You can never know how the relationship can expand your reach to the World Wide Web.

4. Linking your Pinterest to other social media like Facebook and Twitter. This is one best tool to get more followers. The more followers you have, the most likely you get more traffic to your  websites and blogs. Your followers can also become your customers and clients. The possibilities are endless. You can also put your Pinterest button to your websites so that your visitors can easily opt to follow your Pinterest account, too.

5. Creating enjoyable boards can stimulate your creative mind and thus makes you more productive in the long run. Remember, when other pinners see you as fun, they would tend to follow you than when all you do is just pin items that tries to sell to them. Part of any business is creating an atmosphere of comfort between you and your clients. One best way to do that is to show them that you are somebody they can trust and is fun to follow. Mixing business with pleasure can do lots of wonders, not only for your company’s benefits, but to your own advantages, too. If you like and enjoy what you are doing and your interaction with your network is light and fun, it adds to your wellness and healthy stature.

There are still many ways to make your Pinterest a profitable avenue for you. Look around Pinterest and see what’s hot and you might get more ideas for your board. And always remember, the profit is in your Pinterest relationships. Happy pinning!