Secret Pinterest Boards - Why & How

You can create Secret Pinterest boards, which only you have access to, or only those who you have invited have access.   

WHY CREATE SECRET BOARDS

We have seen this used by both individuals and businesses who have something visual they need to share with friends, coworkers, or partners.  

This is often used by individuals when designing homes or planning weddings; anything that might have a group of people involved in, but, they would like to keep the contents just amongst themselves. 

We have seen businesses use this when collaborating with partners on designs.  As well as when planning a launch of a new product line they often now create Secret boards first, then convert them to Public boards when ready.  

HOW CREATE SECRET BOARDS

Each account can have a maximum of three Secret Boards at anyone one time.   You cannot convert a Public board to a Secret Board.  Nor can you MOVE an existing Pin to a Secret Board.  You can however RePin to a Secret Board.

Secret Boards can be used on both the Company and Personal Pinterest accounts.  

Three steps to creating a Secret Board.

1) Clicking on the “Add+” at the top.

2) Click on the “Create a Board”.

3) Finally, to make that Board Secret toggle the Secret option to ON.  

To complete the process, Name your Board, Select your Category, invite guest pinners if you like, then click on 'Create Board'.

DONE! Enjoy!

5 Pinterest Basics you MUST know!

1) Basically, Pinterest.com is where people, mainly women go to search for visual ideas like design, architecture, kitchen, sinks, gardens, waterfalls, living rooms, deserts, fashion, vacation spots. Anyone can search with or without a Pinterest account at www.pinterest.com. 

2) People can create an account to "pin" items they like. They create categories of "pins" called "Boards". Popular examples of categories include, home decorating or travel or kitchens, or healthy food, or cookies, or evening gowns - whatever you have a passion for.  

3) As an online marketing consultant, I start all business sessions by asking what they want to be known for. (i) If any of their stated items are visual we consider Pinterest as an option for them, I do NOT believe that a business should be on all social media platforms.  So, to see if Pinterest would be effective, we start by searching with their categories or keywords to see if there is activity, ie search results they'd like to be apart of. (ii) Then we see if that business already has visuals on their own website or blogs they could use as materials to start their own Pinterest Boards. If they do, we create their own Pinterest Boards,  I like it when we can reflect their website's categories, like Elmhirst will with their new website and Pinterest Board being Farm to Table and so forth.  Next we create a plan for them going to forward to use appropriate jpegs in their blogs/websites so they can create a "pins" FROM their blog/website. It's critical for a business owner to learn to pin from their blog / website to Pinterest so that when someone clicks on their Pin it takes them back to their blog/website.  (Yes, they can upload a jpeg from their computer, but, it's much more effective to "pin" from their website so they generate referral traffic fromPinterest to their Website.  I have an old blog post, http://sofieandreou.blogspot.ca/2012/05/creating-your-business-pinterest.html which lists the basic elements a business needs to have in their Pinterest account to be effective. 

It's very easy to use, see my blog on 5 reasons businesses use Pinterest, http://sofieandreou.blogspot.ca/2012/06/5-reasons-resorthospitality-industry.html 5 Reasons Resorts/Hospitality Industry use Pinterest. 

4) After the Monday's Chex Newswatch: The 5 O'Clock Show I was asked why should a business use Pinterest and not just let people search on Google to find their website.  One answer is, that large numbers of people are already going to Pinterest to search for certain topics, so, IF your products or services are any one of those items, you are missing out by NOT being on Pinterest.  I do NOT agree that EVERYONE should be on every social media platform, it's a waste of time and resources, they should only be on those where their target market happened to already be searching for things which relate to them. 

5) Pinterest etiquette for businesses.. As Ann Douglas on that same Chex Newswatch: The 5 O'Clock Show rightly said, you should pin your own and "RePin" other's complementary images into your Boards.  See how http://pinterest.com/annmdouglas/ Ann supports her community and is supported right back! That's the key to growing your followers on Pinterest, just like any other Social Media Platform.  (Of course, her quality is outstanding!)  As I said in our first, second and third Social Media spot on ChexTV, you should post/pin 5 times information which is informative and educational and 1 post/pin which is self serving. See http://pinterest.com/powersfineart/, Ken reflects a solid example of supporting your community and they support you back, he is the artist I use as an example for online marketing excellence as an Artist.  Ken has ONE board of his own Paintings which were pinned from his Website, and then he has created other boards full of RePins of artists he believes in.  He stands for wonderful Art.  He supports his artist community and in return, they support him.  He knows if someone is looking for good art, they aren't going to buy his art each time, but, he'll like to be known for supporting excellent art.  It's like buying a car, you go to a car dealership, they're all located in the same area. So, on Pinterest, what visual do you want to be known for, Pin your own, and support complementary visual excellence.

6) On Chex Newswatch: The 5 O'Clock Show interview we didn't get into advance Pinterest uses, and touched lightly on Business Pinterest.  That would be a whole other spot, on how to use it as a productivity this tool within a company and between departments or partners ONLY to share visuals!  For example, Pinterest's new Private Boards enable you can use Pinterest as a place to share visual ideas within a closed group, like your clients or a volunteer group who are agreeing on which visual materials work best. Very powerful!  With Pinterest Business Accounts, you can also set it up so certain employees have access to JUST certain Boards, like at Elmhirst Resorts, their fabulous Chef will access Farm to Table, and their Outdoor Activities director will access, of course, the Activities board (stay tuned, as their new website and boards will be launching shortly!)!

Check out my Pinterest board at www.Pinterest.com/SofieAndreou ENJOY!

5 Reasons Resorts/Hospitality Industry use Pinterest

This is a piece by Jennifer Craig, Sales & Marketing Manager of the Irwin Inn in Ontario.  It's one of the case studies featured in my newest book, Your Social Strategy.

"With so many social media market avenues available, it is hard to distinguish what ones to engage in.  Should you do them all? Or should you invest your time into just the ones, which make the best sense for your business.  

The Resort industry, markets a fairly emotive product a picturesque lake, a comfy cozy bed, sunsets, natural settings. All of which are hard to get across to the buying public with simple words.  Our target market is women ages 30 - 55, the primary decision makers when it comes to travel.  Our goal with social media was to try to find the best avenue to reach these individuals, and stay in their conversations and forefront of their minds when they were making their decisions.

For the Inn, one of the suggestions was Pinterest being fairly new to the social media scene, this vehicle peaked our interest level and we just started it for several reasons:

1. Its fastest growing demographic is our target audience, women ages 30 to 55 years!  They love pinning their dreams and wishes it’s like having a viral Bucket List!

2. It allows us to display our products & services in an emotive state, nothing expresses emotion more than a beautiful sunset over the stunning lake with 2 chairs in the foreground with a caption that says we’ve reserved you a seat!

3. It allows our guests to connect, they now can share images from our board with their followers of their visits to the Inn, favorite activity etc.

4. It is traceable back to our website, by inputting descriptions with direct links back to our website, viewers are able to travel from our Pinterest board directly to our website, and it’s searchable!

5. And most of all, it's fun to work with!

When we initially set up our boards, we realized the importance of not only promoting the Inn itself but also creating an atmosphere of excitement about our area.  

We initially set up 4 boards:

·         Activities you can enjoy at the Inn – highlighting the many different  experiences you can enjoy while staying at the Inn

·         "Resorting, a way of life" – a Fun board to express what Resorting Life is all about, many images here are captured from other boards

·         Explore the Kawarthas! – This was very important as it allows us to post supplement services and interest items in the area, in addition allow searches based on area not just the Inn.

·         Favorite Places & Spaces – this is a standard title of most pin boards, so we utilize this to showcase the variety of accommodations at the Inn.

·         We’ve since grown the board to include JUST for Fun – things on Pinterest that we just find interesting

·         Weddings – Showcasing the Inn’s location, and services when it comes to the most important day in a couple’s life

·         Executive Retreats – building up a relationship promoting team building, showcasing images of the difference a retreat at a resort can make.

·         Stoney Lake Memories – a board that highlights the beautiful scenery of our lake and special moments that have been shared. And we will soon be adding a Dining Board with full recipes of our favorite dishes, and our Spontaneous Board, for those interested in last minute events, specials and promotions going on at the Inn.

So far our experience has been very positive our followers are slowly growing, and the back links to our website have had a great increase.  We’ve definitely learned a lot along the way, including the importance of descriptions with on Pins, and links back to our website whenever possible.

We get excited when we see other’s repining our images, some for general interest, and others who have stayed here before and want to share the images of the Inn.

Happy Pinning!

Jennifer Craig , Sales & Marketing Manager

Irwin Inn, Stoney Lake

http://Pinterest.com/IrwinInn/ "

Thank you for sharing your experience with Pinterest Jennifer Craig! Happy Pinning!

Creating Your Business Pinterest Accounts - the 6 Elements

www.Pinterest.com/IrwinInn has done a wonderful job on their Pinterest for their Resort.

Pinterest has come on the scene quickly and effectively.  What I love about Pinterest is, when done properly, it has the ability to increase visitors to your website with little effort.    Pinterest is already responsible for more redirects then Twitter!   WHY do I say this, well, Pinterest has a 10% of the accounts that Twitter does, therefore people are 90% more engaged with Pins then with Tweets! One of the reasons is the nature of a PIN, when clicked on it goes to the sources, so, smart businesses are making sure it originates from their websites vs just an upload Image! 

What is Pinterest:

“Pinterest is a virtual pinboard. Pinterest allows you to organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. You can browse pinboards created by other people to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.

People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and share their favorite recipes.” (Borrowed right from the about section on Pinterest’s site.)

A pin is an image added to Pinterest. A pin can be added from a website using the Pin It button, or you can upload images from your computer. Each pin added using the Pin It button links back to the site it came from.

Business Benefits to Using Pinterest:

I have been working with a number of businesses and communities who are finding Pinterest a refreshing marketing tool to use.  The types of businesses range from Retailers, Hospitality, Real Estate, Business Consultants, Bakers, Chefs, Travel, Authors, Communities and more.  Anything that you can share visually works on Pinterest.

One of the main benefits is that when the photo or video you PIN originates from your website, people simply click on the photo and they are taken back to where the photo originated from.  

Examples of a Business Pinterest Page

www.Pinterest.com/SofieAndreou

I've added my photo from my personal Facebook account, but, I could have uploaded another image or logo from my laptop.  I wanted to keep it personal, so, I chose my Facebook personal photo.  I have added the same tag line I use on Twitter to describe my business, and I have a link back to my Website!

I have created  number of Boards that interest me. (Only one on business).  I find the engagement level on Pinterest easier to stimulate than other platforms!

To create an account is very simple, which is another reason it’s grown so quickly.  First go to www.Pinterest.com and click on “Request an Invite”  they will then send you.

They will send you an email, within a day or so, you simple click on that email’s link and it takes you to where you can set up your Pinterest account. 

In the email they send they share Pinterest Etiquette: 

“Try to...

·  Be Nice!

·  Be Creative. The best pinboards mix products, art, recipes and images from all across the web. Try not to pin everything from a single source.

·  Give Credit. If you blog about an item you found on Pinterest, it's nice to credit your fellow pinners by linking back to the original pin.”

Setting up Pinterest for your business:

Once you get the above email, and you click on their link, you can set up your Pinterest Account.  Just like each of the Social Plaforms in this book, you have a little down arrow next to your name, you can click on that for adjust your account and look at your activity at any time.  You have access to Invite Friends, Find Friends, see your Boards, see your PINs, see which PINs people like and who repined them where, adjust your Settings and logout.

First, you need to set up your Profile. 

As a business, it’s important to have the following elements filled in:

The email you’d like notification sent to.

1.         Notification. Decide which if any emails you’d like  sent, ie when some RE-Pins or Likes one of your PINs.
2.         First and Last Which will appear, could by your company’s name.
3.         Username.  This is important, as it becomes your unique Pinterest URL. Mine is www.Pinterest.com/SofieAndreou.  Grab your URL before someone else does!
4.         About: The marketing message which everyone will see under your Name.
5.         Website: Very important to have your website here.
6.          Image: This is your Logo or Profile photo, depending on how formal or informal you want this Pinterest account to be.  I suggest it be something your audience would recognize.

Getting ready to PIN:

To make it easy for your Social Coordinator, ie the person who is going to Post from your sites and others, to your Pinterest Boards, you want to add the Pin It button to your browser.  To do so, go to www.pinterest.com/goodies and follow the instructions.

Once installed in your browser, the “Pin It” button lets you grab an image from any website and add it to one of your pinboards. When you pin from a website, we automatically grab the source link so we can credit the original creator.

“Follow Pinterest Button” for Websites

Next, it's smart, just like on Facebook or Twitter, to add the “Follow me on Pinterest” button on your website.  (It’s more effective to have the ”Follow me” so they follow right from your site vs the “P” logo taking them away from your site and giving them the opportunity to seeing your Board but not following you.) 

To add the Pinterest “Follow me” or Logos pointing to your account on our site, go back to www.pinterest.com/goodies and click on the style of button you’d like (see below) then choose the HTML code which automatically is populated in the box when you’ve clicked on the style.  Then to embed it into your site,  copy and paste the code where you'd like it to appear on your site or give that code to your website content person.

Finally, not all websites are Pinterest ready, when you go to Pin It from that website it will say Pinterest doesn’t see anything from this site.  Blogs are all naturally Pinterest Ready!