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Everyone has stumbled upon a Pinterest board at one point or another. Before your next haircut, home renovation or mobile home retrofit, it serves as a meeting place for inspiration. As it turns out, nifty products and innovative ideas aren’t the only things that thrive here. You can actually make money on Pinterest!
Pinterest users can definitely profit from the platform, but how? There are plenty of easy ways to make money on Pinterest for your own business venture. To prove it, we’ve gone ahead and laid out 10 of Pinterest’s most valuable money-making methods. For your sake as well as your wallet’s, you’ll want to learn as much as you can about each of these money making tactics.
1. Use Affiliate Marketing to Make Money on Pinterest
Pinterest is a breeding ground for affiliate marketers. It just goes to show the power of social influence, and how one good review can make a world of difference. But what exactly is affiliate marketing, and how does it help you profit on Pinterest?
Affiliate marketing is a partnership that helps both the retailer and the individual profit. In terms of Pinterest, Pinterest users are the affiliates. They promote a product or service through eye-catching pins. Each time someone makes a purchase through their referral link, the affiliate earns a commission.
This is a super easy opportunity for Pinterest users to make money. To profit, you simply have to craft a review or attach a link to an appealing pin for any product that fits your personal brand. Should you send traffic to the retailer’s site, you’re well on your way to making easy money.
The number of companies who offer affiliate partnerships is snowballing. Choose from the big guys like Amazon Associates (perhaps the most noteworthy affiliate marketing retailer) to small companies seeking more orders.
One of the best things about affiliate marketing on Pinterest? You don’t have to commit to a blog or even a website to achieve success. You can attach links directly from your Pinterest pin straight to the retailer, streamlining the process. However, if you do already have a blog with some traffic, you can still use it. Just link the pins to your blog, then send readers to the retailer from there.
If you want to learn more about Affiliate Marketing check out this course called Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing. I bought it and it is a great course for beginners who are new to affiliate marketing and want to learn how to profit from it. Just take a look around our site to see all of the ways we earn money from affiliate marketing. And we use Pinterest to get tons of people to the website to click our affiliate links and buy the great products that we recommend.
Tip: Focus on crafting pins that catch people’s attention. It’s the only way people will click your links and make purchases, so get creative!
2. Use Pinterest to Send Traffic To Your Blog to Make Money
Running a personal blog is an exciting way to make money. However, you can only do so if you obtain readers. Pinterest is an effective way to advertise your own blog and gain traffic. From there, you can earn cash via advertisements, affiliate links within your blog articles, or through ad revenue.
The more readers you have, the more retailers you’ll have itching for a spot on your blog. Moreover, they’ll be willing to pay higher rates to be seen by a broader audience. Pinterest is a route for you to gain traction, ultimately earning a greater income from your blog.
We use Pinterest quite extensively, and we grew RVBlogger.com from 0 page views in our first month to over 100,000 page views in only our 7th month! And over 70,000 of those 100,000 page views were from Pinterest! And we didn’t even pay a dime for sponsored pins, which you will read about a little further down the page.
What’s more, is that this form of income is passive. What’s this mean? It means that once you create the Pinterest pin, it keeps working for you even while you sleep. And you’re not doing anything but continuing to post content and gain more page views.
All you have to do is create captivating pins and then link those pins directly to your blog. Should you have content worth reading, a chunk of Pinterest’s hundreds of thousands of users may be yours. You’re not asking them to purchase anything from you. It’s just a matter of grasping their attention long enough to read your content. Should they be drawn in by an ad on your blog, so be it!
Tip: If you want people to notice your pins (and your blog), try focusing on a niche, unique persona. This is the most effective way to stand out from the crowd.
3. Make Money Selling Your Own Products Through Pinterest
Pinterest advertisements aren’t just reserved for other people’s products and services. You can use this creative search engine to sell your own products, too! The risk is low, and the profit is high, considering all the money goes right to you.
For this easy method of making money on Pinterest, the process is simple. Simply create pins that advertise your product or service. Use this as a tool to generate traffic to your retail website. The more people land on your page, the more likely you are to make sales!
The cool thing about this tactic is that it’s organic. After all, your Pin shows up in someone’s search results, so they’re already seeking what you’re offering. You’re not bombarding anyone with pesky ads, but instead providing content that speaks to them.
Most people who sell their products on Pinterest offer digital products. However, you can sell any number of physical products, too. So long as you target the right audience, this search engine is your oyster.
Tip: Focus on telling a story with your Pin. Don’t craft a generic advertisement, but showcase how your product belongs in someone’s life.
4. Invest in a Sponsored Pin
Oftentimes, you need to invest a little to earn cash. The world of Pinterest is no different. This platform offers something called sponsored pins, yet another simple money-making method.
When you pay to sponsor a pin, you’re putting your Pin in the limelight. More people will see the Pin, giving it a better opportunity for consumer interaction. Basically, you’re paying to be seen by potential paying customers.
This Pin can serve as an advertisement for your own product, a product you’re an affiliate for and more. When sponsored, you increase the chance of this ad being re-pinned by other Pinterest users. If your Pin gets re-pinned by the right person, your traffic may increase tremendously.
While you do have to pay a small fee to sponsor a pin, getting re-pinned is free of charge. With a little bit of luck and some strategy, your Pin may just go viral! Should your Pin reach enough viewers, you’ll surely reap the financial benefits.
Tip: Before paying for a sponsored pin, focus on building a bit of an audience. That way, when you do pay, you’ll get more back from your investment.
5. Make Money from a Company Sponsorship Through Pinterest
As cheesy as it sounds, Pinterest is a place where dreams come true. It’s common for bloggers to seek sponsorship from a company they admire, only to achieve it in the end. Believe it or not, you can do it too.
The first step is to choose a company you want to sponsor you. Over time, you’ll build your Pinterest rapport up. You’ll want to match the company’s design, style, values, and other factors that make it unique. When you finally reach out to request sponsorship, they’ll see that your personal brand is in line with their brand image.
When you do ask for a sponsorship, you’ll want to share your Pinterest statistics with them. How much traffic do you get, and what kind of user is frequenting your content? Overall, you want to seem valuable to them.
Tip: Try offering the company a deal to seem more appealing. Perhaps suggest a one-year partnership where you’ll place their branding on your account. In sponsorships like this, it’s a win-win for everyone involved.
6. Leverage a Shared Board to Make Money
Pinterest is so multifaceted, and the ways to earn money are endless. A shared board is yet another easy way to profit on the platform. It benefits your brand as well as the brand you’re sharing it with.
A shared board is a board of pins that are shared between two parties. Say you have a shared board with another user or even a company. This board will show up on both your profile and theirs. With a shared board, you can multiply your opportunity to generate traffic. So how do you make money this way?
This method works if your Pinterest profile has a large enough audience. If so, companies will pay you to curate a board that organically promotes their own products or services. The shared board should include pins promoting their goods as well as related pins from other users and throughout the web.
Tip: Be sure to curate a thoughtful, varied board. It should include content from many sources, not just the company who’s paying you. When done right, this content marketing method is truly effective.
7. Market Your Products with SEO
If you’re selling anything online, you really need to know about SEO. It stands for search engine optimization, and it’s the key to success in a digital consumer world.
SEO uses targeted keywords to rank higher in search results. They’re effective on Google, Pinterest, and whatever other search engines you may encounter. If you’re selling your own products on Pinterest, thoughtful keyword implementation is a wise route. You may eventually see your Pin show up as a Google search result!
You can include keywords in your Pinterest profile “about” section. You can also use keywords in your pin description. Use Pinterest Analytics and Google Analytics to find out what keywords people are typing into search bars when they wind up at your content. This will help you determine the phrases that matter most.
Tip: If you don’t know much about SEO, check out this course from the Income School called Project 24. This course is designed to help you create your own website and earn a full-time income with 24 months. I bought this course and it has been a game changer for us. The methods they teach for SEO really work for Google and also Pinterest. This course is the reason we were able to grow from zero page views on day one of our website to over 100,000 page views in only our seventh month! If all you learned in the course was the keyword research method it would be worth 10 times the price. But they teach everything to help you get set up to owning a successful money making website in 24 months.
8. Become a Pinterest Content Contributor
You don’t have to be on the front lines of Pinterest to make money. As a content contributor, you can work behind the scenes and still secure your earnings.
Content contributors are paid to use their creative know-how to help companies craft content on Pinterest. This content translates into pins, which eventually turns into clicks and profit. As a contributor, you can share your social skills with companies who want to sell their own products.
Whether you’re a freelancer or a company, knowing that content contributors are out there is useful. For retailer and creator alike, it’s a solid partnership that everyone benefits from.
Tip: If you’re hoping to be a content contributor on Pinterest, go for the small companies. They typically don’t have their own creative team, so you’ll have a better chance of getting on their radar.
9. Participate in a Joint Promotion
A joint promotion is a beneficial money-making route for both brand and creator. Whichever side of the coin you’re on, it’s a worthy venture.
It works like this. The Pinterest creator crafts unique pins that will gain plenty of traction from users. Where the pin lives depends on the joint promotion agreement. Sometimes, they place the Pin on the brand’s profile. Other times, it ends up on the creator’s profile. Occasionally, it’s both.
The goal for companies? Get their brand out there and gain sales. For creators? Earn money from companies while simultaneously growing their audience.
Tip: For joint promotion pins, get creative! Make lists or share ideas that no one else has thought of.
10. Become a Pinterest Virtual Assistant
Not every company has the time or knowledge to generate sales via Pinterest. That’s where a Pinterest virtual assistant comes in.
Virtual assistants handle Pinterest tasks like creating images, using SEO tactics, curating boards, and more. They also keep track of Pinterest Analytics, which are available on Pinterest business accounts.
Being a virtual assistant with a specialization in Pinterest is a bold career move. Still, it’s one with a lot of potential.
Tip: Begin by offering a flat rate for smaller companies who want to increase their Pinterest presence. Sell a package that provides a Pinterest strategy that they can continue using. Eventually, you can charge generous hourly rates and earn a real living.
Profiting from Pinterest
We live in a world where the digital realm is teeming with opportunities for financial gain. The creative search engine Pinterest is no different; all you have to do is think outside of the box and on the board. So long as you do, you’ll find plenty of unique ways to boost your income. To learn more about the blogging and Pinterest courses we recommend please visit our Courses Page.
Do you know of some other great ways to make money with Pinterest? Please share your comments below.
