What Is Pinterest?
Before I dive into the idea behind Pinterest, you must first understand what a social bookmarking site is.
When you visit a web page, and like what you see, you’ll sometimes “bookmark” it in your browser, or “add as a favorite.” This allows you to revisit that web page whenever you like without having to remember the URL.
Social bookmarking takes this concept and moves it to a website, where you can share your “bookmarked” or “favorited” web pages with people in your network.
That’s what bookmarking sites like Digg and Stumble Upon are all about. They act just like your browser’s bookmarks or favorites and allow others to see what you found interesting enough to share.
Pinterest, instead on focusing on the whole web page as a simple, listed bookmark, focuses on photos.
What Pinterest has done is taken the boring layout of a social bookmarking site and turn it into a beautiful way to display your favorite sites using photos or images. It’s a simple concept, but it works very well and it’s attracted a huge following.
Pinterest is often described as an online corkboard. You can take photos from magazines, books, and wherever else you can find them and build a themed collage for everyone to see.
How To Use Pinterest
To set up a Pinterest page, you need to be invited. This is easily done by finding a friend who’s using it, or requesting an invite from the site’s home page. Once you’ve been invited, you can take the first step and create a profile for your business.
Pin Your Pools
Let’s say you store is launching a new product or product line. A great way to share that announcement online is to take some photos and create some pins.
If other “pinners” who follow you think the product you pinned is interesting or cool, chances are they will “repin” it to their own board, helping to spread the word about your new product. This also provides links back to your site and creates brand awareness.
Make Sure It's All Pinworthy
Pinterest is very cool, but you have to use it wisely. I don’t recommend pinning every single product you sell in your store. The chance of anyone being interest in a photo of a bucket of chlorine you uploaded is very slim. As is the case with other social media, you want to make sure that you provide content that users will be interested in.
I can’t tell you how many times I followed or friended someone on a social network that posted nothing but lame self promotion. These companies didn’t engage me, so I stopped following them.
Pinterest joins a growing list of social networks people keep nagging you to use. It’s tempting to tune out these pleas, but you really need to be involved. If you don’t have the time or the interest, it’s likely an employee would gladly take on the task.
