Did you know you can earn money from social media?  Yes, it can be done.  It’s a fun way to make extra money AND you can actually earn a full-time living from it.  There are many social networks perfect for making money but the top income producer is Pinterest, by far!  Read on to learn how you can make money using the popular social network, Pinterest.

Making Money on Pinterest: The Account Set-Up

Follow these simple steps to start making money on Pinterest!

Step 1:  Create a Pinterest account

Easy, right? Because it is. You will begin by setting up a Pinterest BUSINESS account.

Here are some tips to follow that often get missed:

• Add a profile photo & keyword-rich profile description
• Start following some of your favorite businesses and people on Pinterest. Choose influencers to start with, click on who they follow, and start following some of their followers. This helps you find similar content and you can do research as to what types of boards they created

Step 2:  Create Your Boards

• Have boards not only related to your niche but include other boards of interest to your ideal blog reader/ client (Remember that research I had you do above?)
• Make sure you have a minimum of 15 boards with at least 10 pins on each board.
• Consider using a pin scheduler like Tailwind.  Tailwind is an affordable scheduling tool that saves you a ton of time!

Step 3: Join Tailwind Communities

If you join Tailwind, they have Tailwind Communities which are very similar to group boards (which I don’t recommend anymore). You can search for your niche and find communities of like-minded entrepreneurs to join that way. To learn more about Tailwind, I recommend reading 5 Reasons Why You NEED Tailwind.

Step 4: Create a themed/niche account

Your Pinterest account should have a theme, which will revolve around your niche.  It can anything you want (your niche): health/wellness, fitness, beauty, fashion, education, work from home, etc. To create a themed account, once you pick your niche, you will want to ensure that your boards follow that theme.  Here’s an example:

Here’s an example:

You can see my Karrie Marie account above has boards revolving around the blog’s theme: making extra money from home as a virtual assistant, social media, and relieving stress associated with being a mompreneur using essential oils.

Here’s another example:

You can see Dr. Mercola’s natural health website’s Pinterest account revolves around their niche, health, with boards about nutrition, health, and lifestyle.

If you are just starting your Pinterest business account from scratch and you need a little more hand-holding to get it set up correctly, I created a FREE Pinterest for Business Mini-Course that you can sign up for to get everything set up correctly.

How to Make Money

You can make money with Pinterest using the power of affiliate marketing.

How it works. 

A user clicks your pin which takes them to your blog with affiliate links or directs them to the affiliate site.  When they purchase, you get a commission.

How to do it? 

Making money with affiliate marketing and Pinterest does not require a website but if you have a website, you are setting yourself up to make more.  Setting up a site is super easy and will help you make money outside of Pinterest as well.

First, pick a niche and website name/domain name.  Then, register for hosting and domain name. Connect WordPress.org and start writing posts.  Publish!

Easy, right?

For resources to set up your blog, visit Monica at Redefining Mom to check out her beginner’s guide. With your own website, with each published blog post you will create a pinnable graphic to post on Pinterest.  Then, post to your personal and group boards, and Pinterest will do the work for you, circulating your pins across the platform. If you choose not to have a site, you will still create pinnable graphics to post on Pinterest.  Your pin will lead directly to the affiliate site instead of to a blog.  Make sure you place the correct hashtags in your description, alerting users that your pin is an ad.

Read more on Pinterest’s guidelines here.

Here’s an example of pinnable graphic:

How to Create Pinnable Graphics

You can use FREE graphic design tools like Canva.  There are pin templates for Pinterest within Canva or you can visit my favorite Canva template and image queen, Elle at Styled Stock Society and sign up for her monthly free images (affiliate), who has the prettiest templates to help you create on-brand pins for your business. It’s easy, fun, and free (or affordable).

Making Money on Pinterest In Action

To recap, you make money using Pinterest with affiliate marketing.  The goal is to drive the user to the affiliate product sales page where they make a purchase and you get a commission.  You can do this by using your pins to drive users to your blog post where they click affiliate links that lead them to the affiliate product sales page.  You can also do this by using pins to drive users to the affiliate product sales page directly.  Using one or both methods is an effective way to earn money on Pinterest.

Examples: This blogger earns over $80K per month from blogging, and gets around 90% of her traffic from Pinterest

This blogger earns $100K+ per month and uses Pinterest to drive traffic (making over $50K per month from affiliate marketing alone)

Final Thoughts

This isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme but it is an effective, easy way to make money on Pinterest.  The more you engage and grow your Pinterest account, the better your results.

As a Pinterest Strategist, I can help you create your own personal Pinterest strategy through an audit of your own account and website. I’ll include a video walkthrough and then we’ll hop on a call where you can ask me anything you want about Pinterest, affiliate marketing, or your funnel strategy to turn those visits to your website into email subscribers or clients. To learn more, you can view my services here.