Pardon me while I vent for a minute.
A friend just forwarded me an email from Daniel Pink‘s newsletter in which he talks about Pinterest. He says, “By now, you’ve heard of Pinterest. You may even know that it has become the planet’s third most popular social network. But I have to say, I still don’t totally get it — and I suspect many of you may not either. After all, if you’re not planning a wedding, or collecting recipes, or dreaming of a new home decor, what’s the point of pinning?”
I like Daniel Pink. But if I have to read (or listen to) one more influential thinker dismiss Pinterest because “they don’t get it” I’m going to scream.
Just because you don’t get something doesn’t mean it isn’t valuable.
And I am damn tired of having what I feel is the most empowering and useful social media site for makers and designers that’s been created so far being dismissed as a trivial site that’s only for planning your wedding. (PS. In case you weren’t paying attention, wedding planning IS big business.)
I didn’t jump on Pinterest right away, but once I got on, I got it. And despite a few copyright stumbling blocks, I find myself increasingly inclined to defend Pinterest and fight for it’s value. (Especially after hearing Pinterst founder Ben Silbermann speak at Alt Summit. How do I know Pinterest is something special? The feeling I got hearing Ben speak about it.)
You see, so many of the social media platforms that existed before forced makers and designers to translate our work into language. The problem lies in that putting visuals into words is pretty subjective. What I describe in one way you might describe totally differently. We could be looking at the same thing and speaking a totally different language.
But on Pinterest, the focus is on the visuals. What I say about something matters less than the visuals that I’m sharing.
True, there are other sites that focused on visuals before Pinterest. (Like Flickr.) But none make sharing other people’s images (and therefore, the stuff they create) as easy and enjoyable as Pinterest.
I don’t need stats and charts to tell me that Pinterest is a powerful tool for marketing your business and connecting with consumers. I’ve seen it for myself. People are buying things they see on Pinterest. Yes, they’re also pinning inspiration, swapping recipes, and a ton of other stuff too. And all of that is equally valuable. On Pinterest, people are sharing culture. (Visual culture is every bit as much culture as anything else. Don’t let those word people let you think otherwise.) And that’s pretty powerful.
If you don’t get Pinterest, that’s fine. It’s probably not the right tool for your business. But that doesn’t mean that it isn’t valuable.
To that end, I created a little flowchart to help you figure out if Pinterest is right for you:
Yes, it’s a slight oversimplification. But hopefully it clears up this “I don’t get Pinterest” issue once and for all. (And I can finally stop feeling my blood pressure rise.)
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Want even more help using Pinterest to market your business? Check out my class on Creative Live, Pinterest Marketing for Makers + Designers.
It’s hard to believe that Pink wouldn’t understand the value of pinterest, especially if “right brainers will rule the future.” As an artist and designer, I use the site daily as a digital sketchbook and love seeing how images in different categories overlap and can link visually, conceptually, and poetically.
Pingback:why stuff, why now?
I also heard an SEO guy at a WordPress conference blow off Pinterest because “it’s for girls” – complete with big laughs from the audience. Double aargh.
Love the flow chart! As a soap maker, I love Pinterest. I can pin project ideas, products, and all kinds of things and sometimes get a feel for the market before going into high gear production.
Thanks for a great article.
Hi Megan,
I really enjoyed your workflow and your blog which I discovered afterwards. Ironically I found my way here after your workflow was tweeted by Dan Pink. I’m afraid I’m with Dan Pink when it comes to Pinterest and some other darlings of the social network world (I’m looking at you Instagram), but your blog taught me a valuable lesson…. that’s no reason to devalue something.
I also enjoyed our little banter on Twitter regarding my workflow counter argument (I’m @Conduce by the way). My opinion about Pinterest is unchanged – I still think it is a bit too “girly” for me. Just because something has a value to a lot of people that doesn’t mean it should be automatically embraced as some businesses have done. My argument is that they would have a better return on investment by focussing on more appropriate channels (like G+ as you quite harshly suggested). Experiment by all means, but not just because it is the vogue. Find the value to you and focus on that. I think your workflow does a good job of identifying potential ideas.
I posted your workflow and mine plus the supporting arguments and links to our blog.
http://www.conduce.net/Blog.aspx?f=is-pinterest-the-right-tool-for-business
I hope you don’t mind. Thanks again for the valuable lesson.
Paul
Great post Megan! I completely agree that Pinterest may not be for everyone, but lets not put down something that is working well for many. For artists, the inspiration that can be gained by creating boards on different topics is invaluable. I’m so used to using physical boards that I’m moving slower than I would like to Pinterest. However, my boards will continue to grow and evolve. Thanks for the comments….and the visual!!
I love your passion! And I love Pinterest and it’s possibilities! It’s one of my main traffic sources! Who gives a flying tootie if other non-believers don’t get it… We get it 😉 Loves! Laura
Great post! I LOVE Pinterest and I get it. I have a hunch that gender may be a factor in why some people don’t get it? Love your flowchart.
Some of the copyright issues regarding pinning other people’s images still concern me, and I’m much more careful about pinning and re-pinning than I used to be, but I love Pinterest. I use it for pure enjoyment, but I also use it as “mood” and color scheme inspiration for my jewelry, as inspiration for my representational artwork (I also have the more traditional file folders filled with images clipped from magazines that I use for inspiration), and as a former fiction writer, I have friends who use Pinterest as a place to store the visual research for their writing: architecture, fashion, people, places, etc. The great thing about that for them is their fans can follow their boards and feel like they’re in on the creation process by learning what the writer is thinking while they’re writing. So it can be a win-win for people whose primary focus is words.
I love Pinterest and have had customers tell me that they saw the item they just purchased on Pinterest!
Well, Pinterest doesn’t like me. I was on it for a while. Then when all the copyright brouhaha started, I deleted my account. Looking back I probably should have just kept it going just to see where it was all heading.
Now when I try to get a new account, they won’t respond to me or my numerous requests. I don’t think that is very nice at all really. Just because I want to try it again? I have tried everything I can possibly think of to get my account back but they won’t have me.
Not nice at all.
Roberta – have you tried having a friend that’s on the site send you a new invite?
Pinterest is just absolutely wonderful. Left brainers don’t “get it”, but if you have a creative spirit, a creative product or a creative energy, you will enjoy every part of it!
Hmmm… I couldn’t help but compare, but many men don’t “get” foreplay either. Some are simply lacking a gene or chromosome…
Pinterest and Designing an MBA Forever!
Sally – I laughed for like five minutes at your comparison to Pinterest as foreplay! You just made my day!
Love your clear thinking that shows in this chart and in your lectures! Pinterest is my project for this weekend!
I love pinterest too and it never hurts to have too many social networks when trying to sell and promote your business. I can’t be sure, but I think I’ve gotten some new customers because of Pinterest.
Love the flowchart — interesting way to channel anger 🙂
Would you expand a bit on your copyright concerns and how they apply to businesses on Pinterest?
Thanks for your always helpful insights! Susan
Susan – I’ve been working on a post addressing some of the copyright concerns, so look for that soon!
I’m with you Megan…besides, I make jewelry which is for women, so who cares if it’s too girly? Even if I didn’t use Pinterest at all for promoting my products, I still think it’swonderful eye candy and great for sparking ideas. Love the flow chart!
I love pinterest. I am really getting into it now and it’s the first thing I check out in the morning. With being a crafter, I love not having to remember 1000 website to check and see if there are any new tutorials I want to try out, I just add pics to my to do list and go back.
As a blogger, I find it great to get exposure to post my projects.
If Pinterest is too girly, it’s because guys haven’t embraced it to figure out how to “man it up.” If you look at it as a way to visually categorize websites, I think it could be used for both males and females (left brain/right brain?) Women just lean more toward the social and sharing side of business and might be more visually oriented anyway. I love Pinterest as a way to organize blog posts and to find inspiration for future projects. Thanks for sharing your flowchart! (I plan to pin this to my Crafty Business Tips board by the way)
Interesting comments.
I don’t agree with a couple comments that claim Pinterest is nit for left-brainers. I’m very left-brained and I love it. I pin all sorts of things, including business items like infographics, but also love pinning recipes, craft projects, repurposing ideas, etc.
Now, as for using it for business, I believe it can be a very useful tool, IF your business’ target customer matches the primary demographics of the Pinterest user.
Personally, I don’t care if everyone else ‘gets it,’ I get it and my ideal customers get it.
I do think one has to be wary of the copyright issues, and to make sure one credits the originator of the design/idea. Time will tell how this gets handled in the future.
Steph – I’m not actually a fan of the left-brain/right-brain description very much to begin with. (I’m a much bigger proponent of Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences instead.) I just don’t really like to categorize or pigeonhole people.
Really, I think Pinterest appeals to people who process information visually and people who seek aesthetic pleasure.
I do think copyright is still a concern, and I’m also curious to see how this will shake out over time. I’m hugely opposed to copying and taking someone’s work without credit, but I’m also a huge fan of the Internet as a tool for sharing. I think as time goes on we’ll need to see new definitions of what copyright really should be. (Hence, Creative Commons.)
This blog is so funny and true. My friends tried to get me on Pinterest a while back and I resisted because I feel like I’m online too much as it is. Now I see how Pinterest has taken off and I feel silly about my initial reaction. I think I might have even said, “I don’t get it. I just copy and paste what I like and put images into folders already.” I’m someone who has a hard time with new technology but I hate being left out, so now I won’t say I don’t get it. I’ll say I haven’t had time to look at it:)
Thank you for putting into words what I have not been able to. As a maker, I absolutely love Pinterest, and I, too, “get it.” I don’t get Twitter, on the other hand, but I don’t deride it either — I know that it works really, really well for many people.
So far, I haven’t used Pinterest as a marketing tool… but that is about to change! Thanks so much for venting! I completely agree.
Amy – I used to be a Twitter addict, but spend much less time on it now in favor of Pinterest and Instagram. But, what’s great about these other sites is that I can push my posts to Twitter, so even though I’m not on there as much as I once was, I still look like a fairly active Twitter user. Win-win!
Great post, Megan! I totally agree with you. I provide a service business (coaching) and I have found Pinterest to be invaluable to what I do. Users who find me on Pinterest spend more time on my site and are more engaged with my site than referrers from any of the other social media network. I “got” Pinterest right away and I haven’t looked back! Thanks for taking a stand against those who devalue it.
I have not yet looked into piterest but I am About to. Any guy that thinks a site or any means of getting your product out there is to girly is only hurting themselves. I am a guy who makes leather items, one my big ticket items are handbags. Guess you buys them? If you sell to women then nothing is to girly.
Another great post Megan! I guess I am more of a left-brain person, but I do see the value of Pinterest for my creative customers and clients! I reposted your wonderful article on my blog: http://sellingtogiftshops.com/2012/05/12/pinterest-for-your-business/
Thanks for keeping us all update on important issues and applications like Pinterest!
If I recall, when first activating my account, they indicated that promoting your own work is not acceptable. So, isn’t self promotion verboten? Not that the pinterest self promotion police are going to bust down my door, but several of the post are mentioning using pinterest to get your work out there. What gives? If I continually post my own images/work, then I’m not adhering to their guidlines. So, what’s OK and not?
Great question… I was wondering the same thing. I (very) occasionally post my own stuff, but maybe only like 5% of the time b/c I didn’t want the Pinterest police snooping me out. I’m curious if this has changed maybe?
Good reasoning!
Thanks for this article Megan – I was thrilled when pinterest rolled out because I had tons of “saved” blog postings, store fronts, etc archived in my email, or marked in google reader (or scraps of paper in notebooks). All that material – inspiration and ideas and how-to’s were so hard to look through until I filed it all onto boards in pinterest. Now I find myself revisiting the material I liked more often, and I am more likely to follow up on a posting or find and buy an item I liked.
Just like facebook caught on first with college students, and then expanded once others accepted its value as a social media tool, perhaps pinterest is first catching on with visually-oriented women, particularly in artistic fields, and will blossom as more people understand how useful it is.
I appreciate your posts – I am in the process of finally getting a line of jewelry together, and find your advice and words of wisdom particularly encouraging.
Honesty time: I didn’t get Twitter for about 2 years. Since then I’ve been very humble in the face of sites that don’t appeal to me at first glance.
Having said that, I could instantly see the value of Pinterest for any visual artists/creators. Even a writer like me is finding it fun and potentially useful.
Great post, have just added it to my Pinterest for Creative People board. 🙂
I 100% agree with you on this. The first time I saw Pinterest, I “got” it. I think it either clicks with people or it doesn’t. It’s definitely more of a creative thing; perhaps people who need a logical reason for everything aren’t going to see the point. For me though, I love bathing in inspiration, sharing things I find, and “collecting” pretty things. Pinterest has all of this in spades.
I am totally loving your tone!! You are sooo right! I am embracing Pinterest and I think I might even be a little addicted! This is the most enjoyable social media of all time!
I love pinterest. I pin a lot, make recipes from it. I use a community board for my customers to share in pinning their favorite fabrics. Bi see traffic and sales from the site.n That being said, it makes me defensive. I frequently am asked if I get all of my ideas, for my handmade business from pinterest. I take a deep breath, say no, and move on.
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