How to use Pinterest to build a tribe of wonderful people

The Freedom Experiment has grown rapidly in the last 6 months, and a lot of people have asked me how I’m doing it. And to be honest, I’m not doing much different from before. But I have noticed one new major source of internet traffic. It started an early morning in December.

I checked my e-mail first thing in the morning, and on this particular day I had received more comments than usual. I had posted a huge post a few days before, and I just wanted to check if anyone had linked to my post.

A little absent-minded, I checked Google Analytics. Expecting numbers in the hundreds, I had to check twice. Three times. I could not believe it!  In two days, my blog traffic had increased from a modest 288 unique visitors, to a mind-blowing 11 829 unique visitors in one day. I stared at the page in disbelief. How on earth was this possible!?

And then I checked the source.

Pinterest.

You know Pinterest, right? If not, head over there ASAP. Give me a shout if you want an invite!

Blog traffic isn’t everything. But for me, building a great base of readers is so important to my dream of becoming a writer. I need you.

Before I get to the point, let me start with gratitude: Thank you SO much for reading and supporting the Freedom Experiment. You’re not only supporting me, your passion helps me spread inspiration, motivation and hope, which in turn moves thousands of people. Together we’re making the world a much better place. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

For some of you, your dreams require people too. You need to spread the word about your fabulous product, your writing or you need to raise money to support your charity. If your dream require that you market yourself and your cause, then read on. If your dream doesn’t require marketing and self-promotion, then this post was not written for you. I’ll be happy to write for you another time.

I guess what I want to say is that there’s nothing wrong with marketing yourself. To make your dreams come true, to help others, to make the world more amazing. And there’s nothing wrong with not wanting to market yourself too. There are no rules, just do what makes you happy!

Based on my experience with Pinterest and attracting extraordinarily great readers, I am sharing my 6 most impactful tips on how to use images to gather a fantastic crowd:

How to use Pinterest to build a tribe of wonderful people

1. Look at trending images

From the Pinterest home page, choose ‘Popular’ and have a closer look at which images are re-pinned the most. What do they have in common? Clever quotes, humorous and stunning landscapes often make it to the ‘Popular’ category. When choosing an image for your post, ask yourself if people would bookmark your post if it was just an image. It’s important that the image works with the text, but on Pinterest it is just as important that the image works alone.

2. Create your own images

Quotes with text on backgrounds (like the one above) often go viral on Pinterest. Consider making your own visuals to accompany your post to leverage this opportunity. Choose a striking quote from your post and create a simple .jpeg file. This will allow people who enjoy your quote to remember it, plus it will enable people to bookmark your post using Pinterest too. Pinterest saves the link to the original location, but I recommend writing your blog address in the bottom of your images just to be on the safe side.

3. Use the text box thoughtfully

Underneath each image, you have the option to include up to 500 characters of text. Too much text and your text takes focus away from the image that you want others to re-pin. Too little text and you miss a great opportunity to make people click through from your image to your website. Be thoughtful about how much text you include, a good rule is to stick to your headline, or 1-2 sentences that capture the essence of your post.

4. Get active on Pinterest and pin your own posts

To fully make use of Pinterest as a traffic source, you need to be active on the site and pin your own pictures. Start following other users, and they will often follow you back – depending on the style of your pins. Pin all the images and videos you post to increase the likelihood of them being re-pinned. Also, you could consider pinning images from blogs you follow to provide your followers with fresh and interesting articles, visuals, videos and quotes.

5. Use images that strengthen and reinforce your brand

Unlike other social media platforms, headlines and tags are less important on Pinterest. Pinning is all about style – if people like the image in your post, they share it. To strengthen your brand, both on your website and on social media platforms like Pinterest, you need to keep a close look at the images you choose. Which colours represent your brand? Is your image all about crisp, stunning photography? Or soft, vintage-looking images in pastels? Remember, you don’t have to limit yourself to stock photos – videos, illustrations, charts and figures may be just as representable and pin-able as photographic images.

6. Add Pinterest share buttons

A lot of different plugins now offer Pinterest buttons along with the regular Facebook and Twitter icons. Make sure you make it simple for everyone. Just take a look at my share buttons below!

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Ever since that morning in December, Pinterest still sends a lot of awesome people my way. Pinterest has come to stay . And the images you choose to accompany your posts are more important than ever.

New readers: Did you find The Freedom Experiment via Pinterest?

Bloggers: What is your experience with Pinterest? Do you use images differently now than before?

Tagged as: blog traffic, how to, How-to + Advice, images, lists, marketing, Photography, pinterest, writing