Did you know that Pinterest can be a powerful tool to make money online? Whether you’re looking to start blogging to make money, promote products, or dive into a creative side hustle, Pinterest is a great platform to drive traffic and earn income. In this post, I’ll walk you through exactly how I use Pinterest to make money, from setting up your profile to using affiliate links, monetizing your content, and more. Let’s dive in!
1. Why Pinterest is Great for Making Money Online
Pinterest is more than just a visual search engine—it’s a platform where people actively look for ideas, products, and inspiration. That’s what makes it a goldmine for creators, bloggers, and businesses looking to monetize their online presence. Pinterest’s audience is ready to click, shop, and learn, making it perfect for anyone starting a side hustle.
2. Setting Up Your Pinterest Business Account
To make money on Pinterest, you need a business account. This allows you to access analytics, create ads, and enable rich pins (more on that soon).
Getting Started:
Sign up for a Pinterest Business Account and switch your personal account if you have one. Fill in your bio with relevant keywords like “blogging,” “side hustle,” and “make money online.” This step is crucial to attract the right audience.
3. Optimize Your Pinterest Profile for Success
A well-optimized profile ensures you attract followers who are interested in the topics you cover. Use keywords related to your niche and side hustle to improve visibility on Pinterest’s search engine.
Step-by-Step Guide:
- Choose a clear profile picture.
- Write a bio that explains what you offer (e.g., “Helping bloggers and side hustlers make money online!”).
- Organize your boards with specific topics, such as “Blogging Tips” or “Online Income Ideas.”
- Create a few initial pins to get your content flowing.
4. Create High-Quality Pins to Boost Engagement
Pins are what make Pinterest tick, and high-quality pins grab attention. Use visually appealing images, easy-to-read fonts, and enticing descriptions to get more clicks.
Tools to Use:
Use Canva Pro for easy pin design. Canva offers templates specifically for Pinterest, helping you create scroll-stopping pins in no time. Try different styles to see what resonates with your audience.
5. Drive Traffic to Your Blog or Website
Pinterest can be a powerful driver of traffic to your blog, especially if you’re looking to start blogging to make money. Each pin acts as a direct link to your website, which means every click on a pin can lead readers to your content.
Affiliate Tip:
Start your blog with Bluehost for a user-friendly setup. Once you have a blog, consistently link your pins to relevant blog posts to maximize traffic and engagement.
6. Monetize with Affiliate Marketing on Pinterest
Affiliate marketing allows you to promote products, earning a commission when someone buys through your link. Pinterest allows direct affiliate links, which means you can create pins that link directly to affiliate products.
Affiliate Programs to Join:
Sign up for Amazon Associates, ShareASale, and ClickBank. Choose products relevant to your niche, like blogging tools or side hustle guides, and create pins promoting those items.
7. Promote Your Blog Posts with Pinterest to Make Money
By linking pins to your blog posts, you can funnel traffic to monetized content. If your blog post includes affiliate links or ads, each click has the potential to generate income.
Pro Tip:
Use Tailwind for automated pin scheduling. Tailwind helps you plan content in advance, which is great for keeping a steady flow of traffic to your site without manually pinning every day.
8. Use Rich Pins to Enhance Your Content
Rich pins pull more information from your website into your pins, making them more informative and clickable. There are different types of rich pins: article, product, and recipe pins. Article rich pins, in particular, are great for bloggers.
Setting Up Rich Pins:
Follow Pinterest’s guide to enable rich pins on your account. If you’re using WordPress for blogging, you can set this up with plugins like Yoast SEO to automatically apply rich data to your pins.
9. Join Pinterest Group Boards to Expand Your Reach
Group boards let you collaborate with other pinners, exposing your content to a larger audience. This can be a great way to reach people outside your immediate followers.
Finding Group Boards:
Search for boards related to your niche or join blogging and side hustle groups on Facebook to find group boards to join.
10. Create and Sell Digital Products on Pinterest
Digital products like e-books, printables, and courses are easy to sell on Pinterest. Create a pin for each product, link it to your sales page, and watch the traffic come in.
Affiliate Resources:
Use Teachable or Gumroad to create and sell digital products. Promote your products with pins that show value and solve specific problems for your audience.
11. Offer Pinterest Virtual Assistant Services as a Side Hustle
How it Works:
Pinterest virtual assistants (VAs) help bloggers and businesses with tasks like creating pins, scheduling, and optimizing profiles. If you’re experienced with Pinterest, this side hustle can be lucrative.
Get Started:
Promote your VA services on Fiverr and Upwork. You can offer packages based on the number of pins, account setup, or full Pinterest management.
12. Pinterest SEO: Using Keywords to Maximize Your Reach
Pinterest is a search engine, so using keywords effectively can increase your pin’s visibility. Keywords can be included in your profile, pin descriptions, and board names.
Tools to Use:
Try Ahrefs and Moz for keyword research. Look up terms like “side hustle ideas” or “how to make money blogging” and include them in your pin descriptions and board titles.
13. Run Pinterest Ads to Boost Traffic
Pinterest ads let you promote your pins to a larger audience, which can be helpful if you want to fast-track your growth. Ads are affordable, and you can target specific audiences based on their interests.
Affiliate Tip:
Use Pinterest Ads to boost a pin leading to your affiliate post or product page. Make sure your pin is visually appealing and relevant to increase your conversion rate.
14. Using Pinterest Analytics to Track and Improve Your Performance
Pinterest Analytics provides data on how your pins perform, showing which ones get the most impressions, saves, and clicks. Use this info to refine your strategy and create more high-performing content.
Getting Started:
Access Analytics on your business account and review metrics like clicks and engagement rate. Use these insights to double down on successful pins and adjust underperforming ones.
15. Creating Pinterest Content for Sponsored Posts
As your following grows, brands may approach you for sponsored content. Sponsored pins are a great way to make money, as brands pay you to promote their products on your boards.
Affiliate Tips:
Use platforms like AspireIQ and IZEA to find sponsorship opportunities. Just make sure to disclose when a pin is sponsored, following Pinterest’s guidelines.
16. Automate Your Pinterest Marketing with Tailwind Tribes
Tailwind Tribes are communities within Tailwind where members share and re-pin each other’s content. It’s a helpful tool for reaching new audiences and getting your content seen.
How to Join:
Sign up with Tailwind and explore Tailwind Tribes relevant to blogging, side hustles, or online income.
17. Combine Pinterest with Other Social Platforms
Cross-promote your Pinterest content on other platforms like Instagram or Facebook to expand your reach. Share your pins in Facebook groups related to your niche or embed them in blog posts.
Affiliate Tools:
Use Buffer to streamline your social media scheduling and make cross-promotion easy. By sharing your pins across different platforms, you increase their visibility.
18. Start Blogging to Make Money with Pinterest
Pinterest is a fantastic traffic source for bloggers. Start a blog on a topic you’re passionate about, and use Pinterest to drive traffic and income through ads, sponsored content, and affiliate links.
Affiliate Tip:
Start your blog with Bluehost and use Tailwind to automate your Pinterest posting. Together, these tools make it easy to grow a successful blog and generate passive income.
19. Create Engaging Pins with Infographics and Step-by-Step Guides
Infographics and how-to guides tend to perform well on Pinterest. They offer value and attract clicks by helping viewers quickly understand a concept.
Tools to Design:
Use Canva Pro for infographic templates. Focus on creating educational, visually-appealing pins that align with your content.
There you have it! By leveraging Pinterest in these strategic ways, you can turn this platform into a lucrative side hustle and make money online. From affiliate marketing and selling products to driving blog traffic and offering VA services, Pinterest has plenty of income potential.