Last week, Desiree Scales was a keynote speaker at the Constant Contact seminar here in Atlanta. Desiree’s topic? Five New Ways to Look Smart on the Web. Never boring and always on the forefront of what is hot in the industry, Desiree presented topics that were out of the box and new to most attendees. One of the topics was Pinterest.

If you haven’t heard of Pinterest, it is a virtual pinboard. It allows users to organize and share the images they like. Users “pin” pictures to their boards of varying subjects and can share with others. Pinterest is a community where users share pictures of crafts, design, and really any image they feel is popular. There’s also a box for a description, caption or link back to a website.

Pinterest has about 4 million users. According to Desiree, “Pinterest is the new Facebook.” For every one new Facebook user there are three new people joining Pinterest. One of the benefits of Pinterest is that that users can also post their pins to Facebook and Twitter. This enables even more sharing and more reach for a business.

So, how do you get started? Pinterest is a bit different in that you don’t just sign up. You have to be invited to join. Chances are, if you have even a small social network, someone in that network is on Pinterest and can give you an invite. (You can ask Desiree!)

Once your invite is approved sign in (via email or Facebook). You’ll then be prompted to click on some categories of interest and start following some others. When starting out it is a good idea to create boards of specific topics so one board doesn’t get cluttered. Additionally, you can also choose to let others share photos on your board.

Here are some tips on how you can use Pinterest to increase your business:

• Invest time – As is true with all social media, the more you invest the more you’ll get out of it. With Pinterest, post quality pins than will make others want to repin.
• Share your words – You don’t have to just have images. You can share pictures of quotes or funny sayings or information. People share these kinds of images on Pinterest quite often.
• Follow the biggest users  – They have lots of users paying attention to what they are posting. When you follow them AND have quality pins they will likely follow you back and repin.
• Make sure your business is a match – It may sounds obvious, but keep in mind, Pinterest is about interesting pictures and content. If your business sells copy machines, it may not be the best match.
• Promote more than your business – It is tempting for businesses to only post pictures of their products. However, users want to see a variety of interesting pictures. When you do this, it keeps others interested in your content and makes you appear less self-serving.

Want more ideas? Check out Desiree’s Boards: Pinterest.com/dscales Just be careful…we’ve heard there is a “Pintravention” for people who get hooked on this service!

Tags: Pinterest