With the surge of interest on Pinterest, many sole proprietors, small businesses and large companies are clamoring to use the site to their emarketing benefit. I’m not affiliated with Pinterest; I’m an avid user.
Pinterest is practically a no-brainer, if your business offers a physical product. With a physical product, businesses can “Pin” their product images on their Pinterest boards.
But what about businesses that offer a service vice a physical product or even individual job-seekers? Whether you are a job-seeker or a business offering a service, you can also benefit from adding Pinterest to your social media marketing and branding strategy, or “Social Media Mix“.
I’ve met with businesses and individuals who are surprised they can use Pinterest, even though they don’t have a physical product. However, I’ve been actively using Pinterest for my Recruiting and Social Networking Training Business, which is a “Service” related business.
Adding Pinterest to my Social Media Mix has added valuable content and trackable influence metrics to my business.
Here are 7-Ways You Can Successfully Curate Your Brand on Pinterest:
1. Create a Brand Consistent Username
Select a username that is relevant and consistent with all your other social media networks. I keep my username “TerryJobs” consistent on Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook and Pinterest.
2. Create Focus-Area Boards
Determine the focus areas you’d like to “Pin” about. Create specifically titled Pinterest boards for each area. For example, a Technology Consultant might create boards titled “Hardware” “Low Tech” “Hi Tech” “Tech Books” “IT News” and possibly the city they live in “Seattle Knows Tech”. It’s also a good idea to add a few “non-professional” boards to personalize your brand.
Remember: You can have fun with Pinterest and be creative with how you select “pins” for your boards.
For creative pinning and board ideas, click here to find my boards.
3. Pin Your Blog Posts
If you have a blog and uses images in your blog posts, you can “upload a pin” and add your blog post link to the pinned image. When Pinterest users click on the image you’ve “pinned” they will be taken to your blog post.
Click here to find an example of my recent blog post “pin”.
4. Create Pinnable Images
Use your mobile phone to capture images relevant to your brand and boards. For example, if you are meeting with a big client, take a picture of their building and upload it for your followers to re-pin. This markets you and your client. You can also create infographics using the newly released infographic generator from Intel.
5. Follow and Engage Your Target Audience
To find and follow your target audience you’ll want to view their pins. You can view, like and re-pin “pins” on Pinterest in multiple ways. 1. “Search” by keyword using the search box. 2. Select “Pinners You Follow” to view pins of those you follow. 3. Select “Everything” to see all pins or choose a specific area from the drop down menu under “Everything”. Finally, Select from the “Videos” “Popular” or “Gifts drop down menus.
6. Keyword Search Based on Your Boards
Do keyword searches based on your your board titles and “re-pin” things you find that correlate with your boards. For example, you could put a new image of the new iPad in “Hi Tech” or in “Hardware”.
7. Track Your Influence on Pinterest
You can track the influence you have on your Pinterest target audience using PinReach.com. PinReach shows you who “re-pins” “likes” and “follows” your pins and boards.
If you don’t have a Pinterest account, visit the site today and request an invitation. If you don’t want to wait, request an invite from a current Pinterest user. I’m happy to send invitations. You can post a response here or tweet me on Twitter to request an invite.
Happy Pinning!
Click here “Social Media Mix” to find my related blog post.
I’ve seen a recent trend in job-seekers paying search firms and/or recruiters for job-placement and even 
Job Spot 