Is Pinterest on Your Radar?

I started playing around on Pinterest a couple of months ago, and I have to say: it’s MY cup of tea. I didn’t think any new social media platform could get my interest these days - with the plethora of latest and greatest competing for my attention - but this one definitely has. Considering how much time most of us already spend on social media, I am very impressed that it got my buy-in at all – and that really says a lot, because time is a valuable commodity in my life right now. One of the reasons I think it works for me – and its huge female demographic – is it’s a visual rather than text based platform. But I don’t know the science behind it, I just know I like it.

I won’t go into the intricacies of how it works, and if you want to know, I can suggest this link, this link and this link to provide all of the suitable background to get going. Additionally, this link will give you some recent insight into the stats of Pinterest and with anywhere from 60-87 percent of the users female (the stats vary broadly), and more than 10 million users since 2010, it’s now the third most popular social media platform in the world. I’d suggest it’s definitely worth a look in, whether you are a participator or a voyeur.

The simple fact is, go to www.pinterest.com, check it out, if you like the look of it, apply for an invitation and within a few days you’ll be going.

However what I wanted to talk about today is the why and who – because some of my friends would really benefit from this, but it’s also an awesome platform for bloggers. On Sunday, I published “Some Crazy Stuff” about photo doctoring of the stars, and for the first time ever, I got more than 600 hits in one day on my blog – that’s a lot for me – and the majority came through Pinterest. So with ambitions to spread my blog to a wider audience, I can say it’s definitely helping me achieve my goal. BUT you must put a photo on every blog you want to pin – something you must do anyway if you want your blog to succeed.

Getting into the specifics and hoping to save you some time, I’ve come up with a starting list of who will like it – here goes:

• If you’re a blogger (as I said above) and you want to share your words with a broader audience, then this is a great platform to do so
• If you’re in online publishing – in any industry – set yourself up on Pinterest. I’m seeing a rush in this field
• If you’re in the education field, check it out – apparently this is quite a hit with teachers – I’m not a teacher, so don’t understand exactly how, but worth looking into if you are a teacher. Here’s a link and another to give you some insight
• Babies, families, etc... there’s lots here for those in that category
• If you love fashion and being inspired by others’ ideas - male or female - it’s gold. Shoes, clothes, makeup, jewellery, gowns, hair, etc...
• A bit of a DIY junkie or love craft? That alone is one of the biggest reasons people use the site
• If you are a photographer or selling photography services – get going, but #tag your location if selling a service
• A very large part of Pinterest is focused on the Wedding industry – dresses, bridesmaid’s frocks, engagement rings, cakes, etc... definitely not for me, but lots of people do love this fairytale stuff
• If you love your books, music and movies, recommendations abound. The sci-fi/fantasy  books industry seems to be getting a lot of attention on Pinterest, which makes me happy
• If you’re into home renovations, want to make your home beautiful, spend time dreaming about your ideal home, or you’re an interior decorator – professional or amateur – it’s for you
• Anyone who loves food, cooking, recipes and setting a lovely table
• Travel and dreams – some will go, some will spend their life dreaming of going – either way, a perfect place to plan or dream
• Inspirational stuff – it abounds with quotes and cutesy images – in fact, most of the ones doing the rounds on Facebook these days must come from Pinterest. Humour, love, education, family, business – you name it, you’ll find a quote to suit your state of mind
• Art – whether you enjoy looking at it or enjoy doing it, this section is brilliant – in fact if you’re an artist, share your art on Pinterest and spread the word. Also if you’re looking for a new tattoo design, perfect place for ideas
• If you are a heterosexual woman or a gay man, there is plenty of eye candy to enjoy – feel free to follow my Hot Blokes pin. Straight boys and gay women, same can be said for hot women
• If you’re into spirituality or religion, and want to share your wisdom or contribute to the story, this is a great opportunity to influence beyond your circle
• A lot of the images inspire wonderful memories from life – for me it’s specific moments in time, especially around travel and I get to add my memories to someone else’s photo or image - that’s pretty sweet
• If you’re into architecture or design, this is for you
• If you want to be inspired to get off your arse and exercise – there’s plenty of hot and healthy bods to perv at, and ideas to get motivated
• If you like cute and cuddly or exotic animals – plenty to see here too
• Cars and motorbikes, gardening, history, prints & posters, technology, sports or products – there are sections on all
• I could go on and on and on....

Finally, the business opportunities on Pinterest are gradually being understood and there is advice to integrate Pinterest into your content strategy, but I’m not going to talk about that here. However, if you’re interested, I found two good links to reference here and here that talk about this. For my friends who’d benefit, Pinterest has an ecommerce function, so if you are selling products, services or ideas, you can take advantage of this channel. I have a lot of great friends who could achieve awesome things with Pinterest.

With that, you can follow me on Pinterest here and let me know what you think OR if you're already on it, how it's working out for you?

I certainly love it and find it a perfect waste of time for those moments in the day when all inspiration is gone, I’m bleary eyed, and all I’m capable of is staring at a screen. It gets me through...

Yours, without the bollocks

Andrea

PS: I take no responsibility and cannot be held legally accountable for anyone getting addicted to Pinterest as a result of reading this blog. I do not find social media addictive, and while I enjoy its role in my life, thankfully I am capable of controlling it. I wish you luck with sorting out your control issues if you have them J