Do’s and Don’ts of Using Pinterest to Grow Your Business – Mailynne Calvin
As I continue to follow Pinterest as a user and see others jumping on board, I’m excited to see some great business uses for the site. As with all social media communities, there are some great practices and some that are not-so-great and borderline irritating. Below I have outlined some simple Do’s and Don’ts of using Pinterest for business purposes:
DO…
*Do follow other people within your industry.
*Do follow other people who have similar interests as you.
*Do follow people from within your target audience.
*Do post infographics related to your business.
*Do have a mix of personal and professional pin boards on your profile.
*Do install the ‘Pin It’ button to your tool bar and integrate ‘pinning’ into your everyday life.
*Do post relevant YouTube Videos to related pin boards.
*Do repin other users pins, especially when they’re related to your industry.
DON’T…
*Don’t tag all your Pins to repost on Facebook and Twitter – you’ll annoy your other online communities. Only use this feature with purpose for really good posts or information you want to get out there.
*Don’t only create boards, pins and repin business information – throw your personality in there and like & pin personal things you like.
*Don’t pin or repin photos or videos that are inappropriate or too personal if you are going to use Pinterest for business purposes.
Examples of Pinterest Use for Business:
Dan Morris is a fellow social media and digital marketing consultant and had a great use of Pinterest that his parents actually used to sell their home. They posted their house with photos on Pinterest and then they shared it with a description on Facebook:
Jamey Tucker is a TV news reporter for WKRN in Nashville who syndicates tech news reports for local tv stations. He created a pinboard on Pinterest related to what he does calls “Tech Guy Favorites” and tweeted one of his favorites from that pin board to Twitter:
As I continue to monitor and generally be obsessed with Pinterest as a user, I will capture additional examples of Pinterest uses for business and share with you so you can apply it to your own business!
Follow Me on Pinterest at: http://pinterest.com/mailynne
How to Use Pinterest for Your Business
As a social media geek it’s part of my life to keep an eye on different social media platforms and how they grow. While there is a lot of hype about various new platforms that pop-up, recognizing the user base and patterns of a social media community is where you can really see if a new site is going to shine – and the site that has a lot of sparkle right now is Pinterest.
Pinterest is an “online pinboard” to organize and share things you are interested in and love. I started hearing rumblings about Pinterestabout 6 months ago. In that 6 months the site has grown by 4,000 percent and has landed Pinterest among the top 10 social media sites. (Read more about Pinterest’s phenomenal growth here: http://cnet.co/u9VeJc)
What makes Pinterest so exciting is that it has the same obsessive nature that the social media powerhouse Facebook had when it began to grow and is now integrated into our everyday lives. Pinterest is currently an invitation only site with a userbase that is largely women ages 25 – 44. Businesses and products with this group as their target market can do well quickly on Pinterest.
While there are many social advantages to joining the rising community on Pinterest, my focus is to leverage social media for businesses. I have found Pinterest has some great features, allowing businesses to take advantage of this growing community.
How to Use Pinterest for Your Business
*Create pin boards related to your business
*Utilize infographics for a visual way to share information on Pinterest
*Add Video pins from YouTube to your pin boards by installing the Pin It button to your booksmarks bar
*Follow users from within your industry
*Follow users that are part of your business or product’s target audience
*Repin others users pins that you like and are part of your industry
*Invite friends you have contact with that are within your industry or target audience to join Pinterest
*Link the pins you personally add to your pin boards to your personal blog, website or product info page
*Link to your website or blog and additional social media profiles from your Pinterest profile
Examples:
As with all social mediums you use, leveraging your personal interests with your professional ones is a great way to stand out from the crowd of stale and ‘personality-less’ businesses trying to make something happen. Using Pinterest for your business in a personal but still professional way can help expand your network, drive traffic to your site, and create awareness for your business or products.
Happy Pinning!
Book Love
Hey Everyone! Most people know I’m a huge book nerd and just wanted to share the last couple of books I finished if you’re a book nerd too!
How to Win Friends & Influence People – Dale Carnegie
Classic business book and what I learned is that helping everyone get benefit out of every situation no matter what it seems is a necessary skill to learn and it’s ok to be nice.
The Secret - Rhonda Byrne
This book was a gift and couldn’t have been a better one! This book taught me the power of positive thinking and the one thing that most people are missing that cause them to miss out on the success that was intended for them.
Happy Reading!
Business Leader Profile: Tim Davis
Through my business endeavors, I’ve had the opportunity to connect with many of the top business leaders in the Nashville area and to give back to their awesomeness I’ve started a Business Leader Profile series featuring leaders in the area doing great things. First in Line is Business Coach Tim Davis:
What is your work background? Life-long entrepreneur and I owned 2 separate mortgage companies from 1997-2010.
What is your “story” that led you to starting your own business?
It was really by chance. I was working as a loan officer and having a great deal of success when two friends approached me about becoming a partner in the mortgage company they had started. Their business needed a boost and, quite frankly, a turn-around. (They were running in the red every month.) I agreed to come on board for a portion of the ownership. Within 18 months we had taken the company from the brink of disaster to healthy profits and that got me hooked.
Why did you choose to start a coaching company?
It actually chose me. I wasn’t really “looking” to become a business coach it simply happened. As I did projects that increased my market share in my own company, other people kept seeking me out for advice. As more and more business owners came to me I still didn’t think of getting into coaching. It was at a conference where a coaching company approached me and asked me to come on board as a business coach. I worked there for about 2 years, but once an entrepreneur always an entrepreneur.
What is the No. 1 lesson you’ve learned as a business owner?
Commitment and consistency. I don’t know who said “It took me 30 years to become on overnight success” but I believe hard work always pays off.
What advice do you have for aspiring business owners? Don’t wait, move fast, make money quickly, save more than you spend, don’t reinvent the wheel, follow the success steps of others an above all understand that it is not the best person or company that get’s hired, it’s the best marketer so become a student of marketing.
What’s the best personal branding tip you can give us?
Establish your own unique identity. There are numerous competitors in every industry, but people buy you. Stand out with a unique title. For example mine is The Marketing Evangelist.
You can find out more information about Tim Davis and is business coaching at www.timdavisonline.com.
Never Drink Alone Campaign (Coffee That Is.)
Last month marked my 2nd year in business on my own and while the day-in and day-out work has not always been easy, the experience is better than I could have imagined!
When I look back at the work accomplished and all the experiences, I am most thankful for the people I’ve met and the business relationships that have been built.
Moving forward, I have the opportunity to relaunch a business venture and am excited to get out and start reconnecting with all of my great business friends!
To kickstart into high gear, I am combining two of my favorite business strategies from Jason Elkins with his 100 Cups of Coffee in 100 Days and Keith Ferrazzi’s Strategy Never Eat Alone and launching my Never Drink Alone Campaign with coffee!
For the next 30 days I look to overcaffeinate myself and share at least one cup of coffee per day with a current or new business friend and connect, share and build relationships!
I look forward to meeting with people and helping others . . . through coffee. 
Call, text or e-mail me to schedule your cup!
Mailynne Calvin
mcalvin@mailynne.com
615.338.5356
Quote Love
“You can’t steal second base with your foot still on first, but risk without discipline is reckless.”
Book Feature: REWORK
The Famous Founders from 37Signals hit it out of the park with their edgy and straighforward perspective on today’s businesses with their book REWORK.
REWORK fits perfectly into the mindset of the new-age thinkers, self-starters and spirited entrepreneurs looking to change the “traditional” view of what work and business are all about. Inside you’ll read all about why meetings are toxic, your competition really doesn’t matter, planning is really guessing and why ASAP is poison.
I read this book about a year ago and find it’s high-time to re-read REWORK. If you are new to business ownership or looking for a fresh perspective to apply to your already successful business, this book is an absolute must-read. Leave your ego at the door and your mind open and you’ll be able to apply many of these tactics to find an easier way to succeed.
What Do You Need to Grow Your Business?
1. A Killer Online Marketing Plan
A well-thought out online marketing plan can be much more effective and efficient than many traditional marketing strategies. If you have no online marketing strategy, you are missing out on opportunities to pull in leads to your business (often in your sleep.)
2. A Rockin’ Social Media Strategy
Go where the people go – and the people are using social media. As part of your online marketing strategy you should be using social media for your business. There are many social media tactics useful to grow any business. If you’re not learning about them and investing in your social media strategy, you’ll be missing out on connections to your audience, leads and money.
3. Networking Opportunities
Building business is all about building relationships and networking is one of the best ways to do so. Chambers of Commerce, BNI Groups, RLI Groups, Gograblunch.com, Brazen Careerists Network Roulette, Strategic Business Alliance, etc. are all examples of excellent networking opportunities to meet people and start building relationships – and ultimately your business.
4. Time Sweet Time
Many underestimate the amount of time it takes to build up a successful business that will run long-term. You will have to put a LOT of time into your business that you may not necessarily get paid for “right now” to get the boulder up the hill and start your momentum. From there your business and income can soar … and it will ALL be worth it.
Focus the majority of your business efforts in these areas and I promise you will see growth!
What are the Makings of a Good Business?
Business may not always be easy but for the most part it should be simple. Whether you own a business or are thinking about how you can start one, here are six things you absolutely have to have:
A need for what you offer.
Without someone to buy your product or service, you’re obsolete.
Leverage.
Every successful organization in the world uses leverage and so should you. The efforts of one are nothing compared to the efforts of many. Build a team.
Multiple streams of income.
If you have only one way to make money in your business you’ve bought yourself a job, not a business.
Desire.
Whatever your situation, in order to do what it takes to make it on your own, you need a desire to want more than whatever it is you currently have. More money, more time, more freedom, more flexibility … whatever it is you have to have a desire for more.
Commitment.
Margaret Thatcher said, “It’s good to be a starter but you have to be a sticker too. It’s easy enough to start a job, but it’s harder to see it through.” She was absolutely right. It’s easy to get excited about starting a venture and it’s also easy to let the newness of being a “business owner” carry you through the first six months. But what will you do when times get tough, you don’t know what your paycheck will look like the next month and you have to actually do hard work to get where you want? This is where your commitment kicks in. Finish what you start.
Work Ethic.
As an entrepreneur you have to start and end your day yourself. There’s no boss that’s making you do anything, so you have to dig deep and work hard to get you and your business where it needs to be. Work hard and you’ll get there.
While these 6 keys are simple, business ownership is not always easy … but it’s worth it.
