Pinterest has played a big role in helping people with cost-effective DIY crafts, how-tos, and numerous random things related to the creative outlet since 2010. Today, it has grown to be more than just a visual discovery engine. It evolved into a money-generating platform that can make you money this 2022.
Making money with Pinterest talks is going around social media because online influencers and bloggers have circulated authentic ventures with the platform. However, some remain skeptical, ignoring opportunities of earning big bucks.
Multifarious tricks will help you make money online with Pinterest, but affiliate marketing possesses the highest earning potential among all of them. I know you’re now extremely eager to learn more, so let’s dive into monetizing with Pinterest!
Why Pinterest?
Pinterest is on the rise and is growing at an insane huge rate. The platform had 160 million active users back in 2016, and in the span of seven years, its active users have gone up to 442 million.
More and more users have been tuning in for Pinterest to find inspiration and do-it-yourself solutions to their problems. This is what makes Pinterest a profitable outlet to earn money online.
Pinterest has the so-called ‘pins’ that hold coordinates, which sometimes leads to a certain website. The platform has hundreds of thousands of pins that you can use to drive traffic (e.g., YouTube channel, blog site, etc.).
Getting Started with Pinterest
Unlike what most people think, Pinterest is not a social media, but rather a search engine that is based on images rather than on text. This is why bloggers in different niches have become extremely successful with Pinterest commerce— from website owners to food bloggers and more.
Here’s everything you need to go through in order to make money with Pinterest:
Step 1: Get a Pinterest Account
Pinterest was an exclusive invite-only platform back in its early days but has now opened up various ways to sign up.
To create an account, you can sign-up conveniently through an existing Google or Facebook (Meta) account. If you want to create a separate account from your other accounts, you can create an account with login details that are solely for Pinterest.
There is also an option of creating a Pinterest business account. Either you link or up an existing business profile to an existing personal account or make an entirely new account that is not linked to any personal account. Choose the option that would work best for your approach in making business.
After signing up, Pinterest will ask a few demographic questions and have you choose your areas of interest. This is to allow the platform to build up an interest-relevant home feed that you could enjoy.
Step 2: Choose a niche
Since there are hundreds of niches out in the market, choosing one seems to be so basic— but it’s not. Selecting a niche to dive into isn’t as simple as it appears to be. You need to find the one that will really work well for you, and not just anything that you are ‘kind of interested’ in.
Keep in mind that your niche should be sustainable. One of the sweet spots in discovering your niche is finding an avenue where you are both knowledgeable and passionate.
However, passion isn’t enough, though. You need to make sure that there’s a need or demand for it, or otherwise, it will not turn into a lucrative business. Some of today’s most popular and in-demand niches include the make-money-online niche and health niche.
Once you find the niche that you want to pursue, jump right into the next step!
Step 3: Create a website
No. You don’t have to pay to create a website. Many platforms online will let you build up a website for free; one of them is Google Sites. Google Sites is pretty straightforward and easy to use, so you won’t be having many problems navigating the tools even as a beginner.
Open Google Sites in your browser, then select a template you want to use to begin customizing your website. You can edit out the site through the tools in the top right corner of the page.
On the top of the page, there are menus that you can use to change the website’s overall layout. You can insert columns, images, and tabs as you wish. Not to mention that you can also put up a +1 button, allowing visitors to recommend the website.
Step 4: Create a content
Every website calls for content— a good one. You have two options: create one yourself or outsource someone to do it. The first alternative would cost you your time, while the second would cost you a few bucks. Which price would you want to pay?
Your content will revolve around your desired niche. To find the topic that would be to your benefit, go to Pinterest and look for pins related to your niche. In the platform’s search bar, type in the keyword of your chosen niche and find the most popular pins out there.
For instance, you have chosen the make-money-online niche, and the most famous pin is about 8 Lazy Ways to Make Money Online. You need to create an article that also spins with the same topic.
In between the words of your article, you will insert affiliate links where people can go to and avail themselves of products. The website will introduce the products you want to promote, serving as a bridge to customers and products/services.
But where would the affiliate marketing products or services come from? If the niche you have chosen is more on products, sign up to ClickBank and pick the best product to promote.
You can also look for affiliate programs manually if you already have a product or service in mind. Just head straight to the website of the product/service you want to promote and look for their affiliate program.
For example, under the make-money-online niche, you could promote BlueHost, which is a web hosting company. You can visit the website directly from your browser, scroll down to the bottommost part and click ‘Affiliates’ under their offered programs. You can follow the same steps in applying to Shopify.
Get your affiliate links from the programs you’ve applied to and scatter them all over your article. Once you have finished everything you need to do on your website, click Publish.
Step 5: Create your own pin
Since Pinterest is a visual-oriented platform, you will need an image to post as a pin. You can create the image on Canva, which is a free graphic design platform that offers free templates you can use.
After creating an image for your pin, head to Pinterest and click the plus (+) icon at the corner of your profile feed. Pick Create a Pin. Upload the image you’ve edited from Canva by clicking the arrow icon, then put up a pin title and a brief pin description.
Copy and paste the URL of the website you created to send viewers (called ‘pinners’) there, and then once you’re done with the process, click Save.
Affiliate marketing is one of the genius ways to use Pinterest. Many have earned thousands of dollars by following the same steps mentioned above. You can do it too! However, keep in mind that the results may vary from person to person.