The Reasons Why and Ways To Use Pinterest To Share Your Work

Everybody's got something to share, but getting it in front of fresh eyes, or more eyes, is the trick. Until recently, I'd never tried Pinterest. Why, I don't know. 

Pinterest isn't particularly hard to use. Once I figured out how to use it, I was off to the races. So why am I not seeing many results? That's correct, back to the beginning. 

Much like first learning a platform such as this one, eBay, or Facebook, there's a little bit of a curve before you understand how something works. And you have to give yourself time to figure out the curve, or it likely is going to be of very little help. 

So, start at the beginning. Pinterest is an image-based social media tool, sort of like Instagram. You are posting an image that links to your product, your online blog, or your eBay item, and then you hope that people will flock to that pinned image and click it. 

How do you make it work for you? 

You'll quickly learn that the trick to making Pinterest work for you is knowledge. Knowledge, like electricity, is the real power in anything. The more you know about it, the more you can use it in empowering ways.

How do you use Pinterest to advertise your writing? You're going to have to pick stories you've written with images that speak to people and get them to click on the image. Do you know what sells people on images? What kind of images are the most likely to be clicked? 

Distinctive: Meaning that they pop out as you're clicking through your feeds. 

Relevant: They have to mean something to people. 

Emotionally engaging: If they don't get a response, either an excited, irritated, saddened, or intrigued response, then people aren't going to stop and click on them. 

Essentially, when you are trying Pinterest as another place to attempt to get clicks, you're fishing in a pond, and you need to have the right bait.

Take a look at the image above. There are 12 images there that are distinctive, relevant, or emotionally engaging. Pick out one or two of them, and see if you can answer why. 

The beauty in the bottom right-hand image is obvious. However, take a look at the contrasts between the setting sun, the ocean, and the rocks, and how the photographer captured the shadow of the person in the middle of it all. 

Go up one spot, and everybody loves cats. 

The punk rock, emo, or goth girl with near-perfect cheekbones, smoldering intensity, and a sexy look is eye-catching to guys and some girls, and has a distinctive feel that can potentially evoke emotions. 

Essentially, this is the routine on Pinterest. Your images are your hook, more so than your title or headline, and if you're not choosing them carefully, it's not going to work.

Social Media engagement goes down this time of year, but it's not impossible. It's different from December, when everybody is stuck indoors due to inclement weather. So utilizing everything at your fingertips is important. 

It's always going to be about the higher-quality resolutions, emotional appeals, and relevance to trends. However, one has to find authenticity. People feel an attraction to authentic people. 

For instance, if I'm writing a blog about social media use, and I tell you that I've smashed it out of the park using Pinterest, I'd be lying. If I tell you the same story, but that I noticed a slight spike, I would be making sure I was genuine. 

Why not give Pinterest a try? I'm only presenting this as a reminder that it's there and it's usable. You're not sure how. Here are the three biggest things to remember when using Pinterest. 

It's easy to use. Click the share icon in the bottom corner and move to the next screen.

After clicking the icon, you're going to notice this happens:

Click on Share link via, and that'll take you to the option to choose Pinterest:

Choose Pinterest. Once you choose Pinterest, you'll be taken to a screen that gives you images to pick from. If you chose great, enticing images for your story, they'll appear here. Pick the images connected to your story, or what you're trying to share, and then pick Save. 

Boom! That's all there is to opening a doorway to new possibilities. You can put stories from writing platforms on Pinterest. You can post pins linking to your online side hustles. You're limited by your imagination, so choose those images well. 

Takeaways

If you're making a fortune online and are happy with how well your work is being seen, then you don't have to worry about trying new ways to approach self-promoting and self-marketing. But you read this for this long, so maybe it's something you haven't tried. Either way, you're here. 

Pinterest has the potential to get more people to view your work, read your stories, or see your advertisements for products or other online endeavors.

Give it a try, and if you have other ideas that work, share them with the world.