Do you remember the days when the SEARS catalog would arrive at your doorstep? Yes, I am dating myself. But, I recall going through the five pound book page by page. My friends and I would spend hours and hours earmarking the pages that were worth a second or third look. It was a dreamer’s delight.
Fastforward to 2012 and meet the new version of catalog shopping – PINTEREST. Instead of earmarking pages, you “repin” – which is in essence a virtual bookmark.
Now I am a newbie at PINTERST and I must admit it is addictive. I love catalog shopping and magazine reading and PINTEREST melds these two entities together. First, you create BOARDS. Some people create boards with snazzy titles, I myself go the professional route and pin with key words. Such as RESOURCES FOR EDUCATORS, AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE and ASL INTERPRETING. I must admit that this format is really engaging. I am by far a visual learner (hence why sign is so easy for me, perhaps?).
Once you create boards with some pins go looking for friends and other people’s boards with like interests. I have been delving the site for subject matter that has home renovation ideas. Once I happen upon a pic I like I repin it to my Home renovation board. You then can click on the pic and go directly to a website which will give you more information about what you saw. Often these clicks bring you to blogs, Youtube video or online shopping sites. Regardless, it is truly “one stop shopping”!
I have done a crash course in PINTERST 411 and found that the vast majority of users are women. This must make corporate America VERY happy as who does the most of the family shopping – Women! Men, supposedly will use PINTEREST if they want to check out women or men on a more personal level.. .and we are not talking women sporting this years couture!
Here are some of my favorite PINTERST pages to follow:
KIDLUTIONS- Wendy Young is a mega – powerhouse. With over 800 thousand followers – she has far more than anyone I know. (To put it in perspective, OPRAH has only 40K) I hope that people will really check out her great info on mental health issues and education. http://pinterest.com/kidlutions/
OPRAH Of course OPRAH (and her staff) have a rock’in Pinterest board: http://pinterest.com/Oprah/
My love for this company from Northern California knows no limits. Check out their amazing culmination of info: http://pinterest.com/education_com/
IMDB – The Internet Movie Database must be having a field day. They can upload one Movie poster after another on this medium . I uploaded todays PINTEREST board for them. Curious is they monetize their pages or not? http://pinterest.com/imdbofficial/
YOUR FAVORITE PINTERST BOARD RECOMMENDATIONS ARE WELCOME IN THE COMMENT SECTION BELOW (FAMILY FRIENDLY PLEASE)
Thanks for the food for thought. I joined Pinterest some time ago but only recently started pinning more things. Everything I have read says that women are the #1 users and that recipes are the most “pinned” pins 🙂 I haven’t read much yet about conversion rates, though. I don’t think many sales are coming through Pinterest. From what I can tell, it’s generally do-it-yourself folks, looking for lower cost ways to re-create products, recipes, toys, games, crafts, etc. I could be wrong… I’ll do more research to learn about the potential conversion rates! I’d be interested to know if businesses are actually turning sales from the pins, or if it’s traffic they are getting, and nothing more.
Great info. I know that the “younger generation” use PINTEREST as a way to “shop” online. If they see an outfit worn by a celebrity they may try to find the knock off via PINTEREST. I had no idea until I learned this via some college aged students. Who knew!
Louise,
I LOVE Pinterest! Thank you so much for the mention!
I love following YOU: http://pinterest.com/louisesattler/
and
Shara @MommyPerks: http://pinterest.com/mommyperks/
amongst others!
I, too, am a very visual learner. I find that Pinterest is a HUGE traffic driver to your site, as well as a great way to enage people with your brand, allow them to see what you are about, dawdle on your site a bit longer, sign up for your newsletter, etc. This then allows you to really get to know your audience, their needs and what they like. I have found it to be invaluable from a business perspective and just plain fun from a personal perspective.
I must admit, I go to Pinterest more than my cookbooks, when I’m in a pinch and need to get a dinner on the table quickly. I love getting new ideas from others for both biz and my personal life: crafting, home decor, etc! For me, it’s a match made in heaven!
Wendy =)