Become a Trendsetter, use Pinterest

Social media is a very hot item nowadays. We talk about it and use it daily: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube, etc. One rising social media platform is PINTEREST. Since the launch in 2009 it has been grown to 70 million users. Some people believe this platform is a still rising star and profitable to get to know. Do you want to inspire people with your ideas or creations? You should start Pinning. But how can you become the trendsetter you want to be?

Pinterest is like creating virtual mood-boards. When you see pictures or videos you like on the Internet, you can Pin it on your personal Pinboards (mood-boards). This way you save the ideas for later. Pinterest also has search options. Within Pinterest you can find pictures of your interests and links to the website these come from. If you see a Pinner that is in line with your interests, you can follow the boards you like. If you are not familiar with Pinterest yet, watch this video.

I personally use Pinterest to find all kinds of things: quotes, architecture, decoration ideas, nail polish, holiday locations, and more. I’m not a trendsetter; I just like to get new inspirations. I follow a lot of trendsetters and use their ideas to create my own. When I find things I like, I Pin it on my personal boards. Pinterest has 40 million active users (80% of them are women) who spend almost 100 minutes a month on Pinterest, among them there are a lot of followers like me. So how can you become a trendsetter with a lot of followers?

How to become a trendsetter on Pinterest

1.     Create a personal account with information about who you are and what your boards will be about (what your interests are). You can upload a picture of yourself and write a short description that everybody will see when he or she visits your boards. Make shore it describes your interests and what the boards are about. This way, the visitor knows what he or she can expect.

2.     Create clear Pinboards names. Every Pinboard has a name. This can be a word or phrase. Make shore the name describes what the Pins in it are about, either in a clear way or in a catchy and descriptive way.

3.     Every board has a cover picture which shows one of the items you have saved in that particular board. Make shore this picture fits in the rectangular and boosts the board name. In the example below, the board name is ‘inspire me’ and the board cover shows an example of the pins you can find in that board. In this case the Pinner choose for the phrase: ‘Believe there is good in the world’.

4.     Make a clear board description. Every Pinboard has its own description in which you describe what the board is about. Marie Jo for instance, has a board with the new lingerie designs of 2015.  This is also clear in the description of the board: ‘Marie Jo Spring Summer 2015 collection’.

5.     Create clear Pinboard content. Make shore the content of the board corresponds with the board name. If the pin does not correspond with the pinboard, it is unlikely other Pinners will follow your board (and become a trendsetter).

6.     Every pin should have a clear or catchy subscription. Some pictures show how to do something,e.g. how to make Smokey Eyes. Make shore this is in the description. The same thing is important for your pictures. If you want people to find your pins, the description is important. People will enter words in the search bar and Pinterest will select Pins based on the description. So make shore to use words that other people will look for; this increases the finding chance.

7.     Pin pictures on the right Pinboards. Make shore every Pin is placed on the right Pinboard. When someone follows a board, they want to see what you like and think about that particular topic. They do not follow your board for other reasons. So make shore that every Pin on a particular board corresponds with the name and content that is already posted. Irrelevant posts or misplaced posts will increase the chance to loose followers. I experience it myself. I follow Pinboards but the Pinner looses sight of what he was pinning in the first place. I loose interest and find the Pins annoying. I erase these boards from my interests and will not follow it anymore.

8.     Put a Pin-button on your websites or blogs. Some people already have blogs or websites. If you want your pictures to be pinned, make shore you will enter the Pinterest button on your webpages. This will most likely not increase the followers on Pinterest, but it will increase the visibility of your creations and direction to your website. When people click on the picture in Pinterest, it will redirect to your website where they can see more of your creations.

So, are you a person that wants to be a trendsetter? Or someone that wants to put your ideas or creations into the world in a visual form? Start pinning and follow these tips!

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