9 Ways to Use Pinterest for Your Small Business

Pinterest is the hottest new social network, with articles filling up the web about how fast it’s growing. And it’s little wonder…most people are visual learners, and the ability to capture and organize photos of the things we love online can be very addicting and satisfying.

And because people are sharing photos of products they love or want (along with recipes, dream vacation destinations, and so forth), you have an opportunity to add your product line to the mix and gain additional attention. But that’s not the only use! Here are some of the ways you can use Pinterest to benefit your business:

• Share product photos. This, at its core, is the simplest way to use Pinterest. Share photos of your product line that others can share as well, and link to your sales page. Just be careful not to be TOO product-centered or you’ll annoy your friends and be in violation of Pinterest rules.
• Create a vision board for your business. Pinterest is a great tool for collecting photos of where you want your business to be in 1, 5, 10 years. Is your eye on a car, a home, or a fabulous vacation? Collect photos and put them on your vision board on Pinterest.
• Create a personality for your brand. Pinterest is a great tool to show people the personality of your brand. Do you have a sense of humor? Share funny quotes. Do you have a brand that leads to a luxurious lifestyle or high fashion? Share related photos. By being mindful of the brand image you want to project, you can share photos that help people develop a sense of your overall brand.
• Share training resources you find on the web with your team. Come across a great blog article or training piece online that would benefit your team? Pin it! Then let your team know that you’ve got a board with great resources that can help them build their businesses.
• Run a contest. Many brands are now experimenting with running contests on Pinterest. It’s a great way to promote viral visibility of your products. This article from PR Daily may give you some ideas to get you started: http://prdaily.com/Main/Articles/How_to_launch_irresistible_Pinterest_contests_11079.aspx
• Collect inspiration for your own content. For example, you might collect recipes that inspire you to create your own recipes, or makeup or fashion looks that give you ideas about ways you can suggest customers use your products.
• Do research about the things that excite your customers by checking out their boards. It can give you ideas for theme parties, specials you might want to offer, or prizes you might want to award in contests.
• Give people ideas about additional ways to use your product line. For example, if you sell home decor items, you might show rooms and point out where your product would be perfect in the layout.
• Create an opportunity board that highlights the benefits of your business opportunity, and share it with people who are considering joining your team. It could include your recruiting video, a link to your recruiting brochure, a video about your next incentive trip destination, etc.

Many retailers are finding that Pinterest drives a LOT of traffic to their websites. So it’s a great idea to check out this hot new social network, and find ways to put it to work for your business.

Your thoughts? Please share them in the comments! And be sure to follow us on Pinterest at http://www.pinterest.com/thedsef/ We share a lot of great resources for your business!