Pinterest

[Isha]

Wow, great thread.

I do wonder whether we're on the right track, though, when I see this:

http://pinterest.com/eddale/

[Brian Hawkins]

I get a lot of followers like that Isha, no activity, just building followers. The same with Digg and Twitter. I never follow back because I assume they're going to start spamming when they get the numbers up or even sell the account to a spammer.

[Brad West]

I'm loving pinterest I haven't built but 4 boards one is for kitchen things I want and I put Amazon links to the products but those links are useless now but I still have my list. My bucket list is for things I want to do and places I would love to go. The thing I like is people interact with out much effort, I just post what I like. Visiting other boards is awesome people have found some great stuff that I don't thing I ever would have seen without pinterest.

This is a great thread!

[Sheryl Loch]

I am not a Pinterest expert by any means, but I have been using it to see if I can drive a bit of traffic to my sites. I have noticed that some topics get a whole lot of attention while others just sit and do very little. However, there are ways you can get at least a few RePins and Likes on those slow boards.

Some of you already know what I am going to say…you have to RePin and Like other peoples Pins if you want them to do the same for you. That's right, you can't just put up pins and think the Pinterest fairy will hit your boards and pass out repins and likes.

Do a search for keywords that match your boards. Find some cool, unique, interesting pins to like and repin. Don't just pick everything you see, look for "quality", also try to repin things from different users.

Now each of those people whom you liked or repined one of their pins will get a notification email and will probably come visit your board. That is why you want quality and variety.

*** This is getting many more repins and likes from returning pinners**** When someone repins or likes one of your pins and you get an email notification, do NOT immediately go and return the favor. Let that email sit until you have added more things to your boards and then go like or repin one of their pics. Since they already liked one of your pins, it means they have interest in that topic and may repin more of your things if you have new stuff to show them.

Keep in mind that you do NOT have to follow every board a person has, only follow the board or boards that are of direct interest to you. No need to clutter up the pipes with stuff you do not want.

Do NOT try to start 100 boards! Only start a few boards about topics you really like or it will become a chore to update them with quality pins. Having more boards, more pins or more followers does NOT mean you will have more traffic from Pinterest to your site.

I did NOT do a scientific, mathematical, algorithmic study, but I did notice that some people who have masses of boards, pins and followers…have little or no toolbar page rank to their profile or boards. Many of them do not even have very many repins or likes on their things. Just because you can post tons of stuff…does not mean you are accomplishing anything of value.

As I mentioned way back in April 2012, use your keywords in the description of your boards and pins! Pinterest Keywords

So to sum it up – Quality, keywords and delayed returned repins is going to do much more for your boards than having mass pins or followers. Pinterest is NOT Twitter and followers mean very little.

Oh, you can follow me on Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/sherylloch/ if you like plants and animals.

If you like kids crafts, holiday crafts or stuffed animals you can follow http://pinterest.com/fuzzyanipals/

Also checkout http://pinterest.com/ishabluebell/ for a variety of boards with cute and pretty photos and crafts.

If you are looking for marketing and blogger type boards then see http://pinterest.com/hotblogtips/

Looking for cool rigs, a bucket list or green things? Then you will want to see http://pinterest.com/bradtwest/

So there ya go!
Pinterest away my lil pinners!

[Isha]

Great post, Sheryl - thank you for those tips! And for linking to my Pinterest

[Isha]

There are some very good browser extensions for Pinterest, and most of them don't fight with each other (I had to disable Pinterest Right Click for that reason). One plugin I find really helps me save time is Pinterest Pro (for Chrome). Amongst other things, when I mouse over an image in Pinterest, I get an automatic zoomed-in image show up.

The other Chrome Pinterest extensions that I have enabled in Chrome are:
Pin Search
Pinterest Keyboard Shortcut (Ctrl+Alt+p)
Pinterest Pin it
and
Quick Pin!

Um, wonder if I have enough there...

[Sheryl Loch]

Thanks for the Pinterest Plugin List for Chrome! I didn't even know they had all of those. I have the simple bookmarklet and that is all.

I'm not sure if Firefox has any Pinterest add-ons or not. I haven't looked.

I do have a NotePad on my desktop labeled Pinterest. When I see something I want to Pin, I just copy and paste the URL under the right Pinterest name and save it. That way when I log in to Pinterest, I have all the Pins for the week (day) ready to just load and go. It saves me from logging into Pinterest each time I see something.

Who would have thought a "picture" site would have gotten so popular?

Sheryl Loch