Kelly Coooper - How to Build a Huge Following on Pinterest: How-to and Marketing

Whether you want to promote your rock band, rock shop, or rocking chairs, individuals and entrepreneurs need to connect to their audience. Maintaining social media takes energy and effort especially when your goal is to sound authentic without regurgitating hackneyed quotes or cliches.

Everything you do with Pinterest is leverage-able for parallel or future social media venues. Dont fall prey to the whiners who bemoan the number of social sites, the intent of Facebook, the lifecycle of Twitter, or the fate of forgotten venues. It doesnt matter. Move forward, connect with people, and evolve your profile, product, or purpose.

Lets pretend that the two of us are to meet f2f (face to face) for an hour. Theres a pizza place near where I live thats quiet after lunch and before dinner. I ask you to bring what youre working on for us to take a look at. You may be an artist, musician, accountant, attorney, chef, retailer, teacher, or developer any area of interest will do.

We meet and you talk officially about your ideas or work for a few minutes, and then we begin to discuss how you will get into your project or business, what you love about it, and why your offering is great. The more we talk, the more we are in conversation, and the more we understand each other.

Your goal is to bring a lot more people over to your table to go beyond technology, and harbor a relationship.

The decisions you make regarding what to pin, who to follow, and how to link are the same decisions you make building relationships with friends, clients, customers, and your community. Think f2f, then implement on Pinterest.

One of the primary ways we understand our world is through image. Well explore how image and a combination of images bring about a connection, trigger a memory, create understanding, and connect people. Lets bridge your existing assets, websites, or social media with Pinterest and build momentum.

Below, I will advise you on how to sync Pinterest with your responses. Our combination of ideas will lead to a huge following on Pinterest. Lets start with some questions:

1. What are 3-4 adjectives that describe how you want people to interpret you or your organization?

Here are a few examples:

• Warm, Welcoming, Inviting
• Unique, Avant-garde, Edgy, Bold
• Whimsical, Playful, Fun
• Valid, Trustworthy, Serious, Experienced
• Fresh, Clean, Open

2. What are 3-4 adjectives you want friends or customers to use to describe your project or product?

Here are a few examples (dont use words like best, great, cheap):

• Interesting, Thoughtful, Inspired
• Simple, Clear, User Friendly, Productive
• Unusual, Unexpected, Intriguing
• Delicious, Flavorful, Textured, Layered
• Comfortable, Relaxed, Attractive, Easy

In the following sections I will offer ideas for you to consider and implement on Pinterest. As I do, we will keep in mind your responses to the two questions above. They will guide what you pin, who you will follow, and how you will build your following. As you pin, make sure everything you do communicates your adjectives!

Lets get started.

Images reflect life, and its memories. Considering your answer to question 1 above, which of the following does the pinwheel image below reflect:

• Warm, Welcoming, Inviting?
• Unique, Avant-garde, Edgy, Bold?
• Whimsical, Playful, Fun?
• Valid, Trustworthy, Serious, Experienced?
• Fresh, Clean, Open?

On Pinterest, your primary form of communication is image. Your image will be one of many viewed in one moment. Make the most of meeting with others through the invitation of your image. Share, embrace, and connect. Quality over quantity. Build connections, rather than clicks.

Pinning a long image works when it should be long dont stack the same image multiple times, as this will make it lose its intent. A long image is a long story, and it needs to be worth the space and time.

Then again, if youre looking for Unique, Avant-garde, Edgy, and Bold, stack different images that, as one, communicate those words; your image will sing.

The pinwheels above convey Whimsical, Playful, and Fun.

Images bring us together. Considering your answer to question 2 above, which of the following does the building image below reflect:

• Interesting, Thoughtful, Inspired?
• Simple, Clear, User Friendly, Productive?
• Unusual, Unexpected, Intriguing?
• Delicious, Flavorful, Textured, Layered?
• Comfortable, Relaxed, Attractive, Easy?

This images focal point pulls us into the building and onto stairs in an unusual, unexpected, and intriguing way. At first glance it may be interesting, thoughtful, and inspired. However, if you imagine yourself entering this building, it would feel unusual and unexpected in an intriguing way.

Color communicates in a similar way to body language. When communicating f2f, you know that much is stated in how a person stands and moves. Colors a bit like that: while it doesnt literally move, it communicates connection and movement. Reading about color in our lives and cultures is fascinating. Lets consider a few colorful ideas:

Which feelings, below, will you match up to the paint colors above? Some colors represent a myriad of feelings. A small sampling includes:

1. Joyful, Intelligent, Energetic
2. Calm, Sophisticated, Healing
3. Noble, Mysterious, WiseC
4. Passionate, Powerful, Dangerous
5. Tranquil, Confident, Secure
6. Enthusiastic, Creative, Determined
7. Growth, Harmony, Freshness

1. Yellow, 2. Turquoise, 3. Purple, 4. Red, 5. Blue, 6. Orange, 7. Green

You may guess that black conveys mystery, power, death, and elegance. And white conveys honesty, goodness, cleanliness, and purity. White also conveys coolness, like snow. Consider too that different hues, darker and lighter, convey different messages as well. For example, dark green conveys greed and ambition, olive green conveys peace, and aqua conveys healing and protection.

The colors of the images you pin will convey as much about you as the literal representation of what the image depicts.

If you want to convey comfortable, relaxed, attractive, and easy, which colors will you consider or avoid? Sometimes it helps to begin with one color. Lets go with one color for two examples:

1. Warm, Welcoming, Inviting start with orange, with the energy of red and happiness of yellow
2. Valid, Trustworthy, Serious, Experienced start with blue, offer serious expertise in a company that is loyal and intelligent

Next, lets go to Color Scheme Designer , a great resource for determining complement, triad, and other combinations. Enter a hexidecimal or RGB color, select from the color wheel, then view a light and dark version of your color combination.

Experiment with warm and cool, based on your desired adjectives. Think about you, your project, and your product. What colors will contribute to your story?