How Pinterest Can Benefit Your Small Business

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At first glance, Pinterest seems
like just yet another social media site. The neatly-designed grid
allows users to "pin" and "like" visually-appealing images. They appear
on virtual bulletin boards that users can rename and edit into
categories such as “favorite places and spaces,” “products I love,” and
“for the home.” Many people share recipes and organize wedding plans on
Pinterest. They also showcase their inner tastmaker, hobbies and artist.
Essentially, the Pinterest platform is a collection of “best kept
secrets” and beloved retail items. Conveniently for the loved brands,
both big and small, Pinterest users have voluntarily agreed to promote
products and services for free.

The professional possibilities for a Pinterest profile are promising—especially for small business owners and entrepreneurs.
Graphic and interior designers, photographers and illustrators have
already begun pinning their work to craft sample storyboards, palates
and mood boards that display their products and services, while also
exhibiting their personal style, aesthetic and personality. When
presented like a portfolio, Pinterest is a great tool for potential
clients and referrals to check out a vendor prior to contacting them for
work.


“It's a great way to show inspiration, and is also good for seeing
what direction my tastes in style has taken,” says Web designer Manon Michel. “I
use Pinterest for seeing what other people are interested in, what
colors people are drawn to, and what products they love.”

You don't have to be an artist to benefit from the site, however. We
spoke with a few small businesses owners about how they are using the
new, rapidly-growing platform.

The fashion retailer: Boutiika


Ruchika Kumar is the founder of Boutiika.com,
an e-commerce site that provides online fashion retail research for
better offline purchasing, who uses Pinterest as a “lookbook.”

“Each week we pin all of the new items onto a 'New this week' board,”
says Kumar. “We then separate those items into various categories:
dresses, skirts, tops, vintage, locally made, etc. and curate them into
outfits and other collections. Pinterest is [driving] traffic to the
site, and is helping us keep our photos organized.”

While Pinterest is still too new to measure specifics over a period
of time, Kumar found keeping track of the number of times her pins were
repinned, rewarding.

“We have been getting re-pinned hundreds of times,” says Kumar. “When
Pinterest users click on them, it takes them directly to Boutiika.com,
making it one of the most effective social media tools at converting traffic. Our very first curated outfit,
a casual pair of brown jeans with a silk blouse, and a patterned
sweater, all from local San Francisco boutiques, got 27 re-pins and 7
likes in a matter of minutes."

The niche online specialty food spot: Biscuits by Lambchop


Annette Frey has found a very specialized niche: she owns an online gluten-free dog biscuit shop, called Biscuits by Lambchop.

“So far I've created a ‘canine confections’ and feeding board to
illustrate what we do and what we are all about,” says Frey. “I've
included things I use either for ingredients and equipment for baking
dog biscuits and/or what I am generally feeding my dog to promote the
healthy doggie lifestyle we are all about. [I plan to] illustrate more
about individual ingredients, recipes, and some how-to's on feeding.
[For me Pinterest is] a visual blog, and like any business blog, you
want to give, share or teach your viewers something of value.

Frey began using Pinterest a month ago and says it is the
fifth referral source on her Google analytics with a 50 percent rate of
new visitors and a “respectable” bounce rate, which is the average time
spent on the website and pages viewed.

“I would say I am 'repinned' or my pins are 'liked' anywhere between 5-20/day, says Frey.”

The Expert - Lyneka Little and Shira Levine


As a freelance business, travel, luxury and popular culture writer,
I’ve been using Pinterest to demonstrate my expertise by including fun,
short informational anecdotes on the site. This offers readers and
potential clients a quick glimpse of my expertise in these categories.

Lyneka Little,
a freelance business and tech reporter, uses Pinterest to focus her
career on emerging new media platforms. “I decided to showcase my
ability to aggregate the hottest technology news using Pinterest,” says
Little. “The hottest social media website has been mistakenly identified
as just a tool for showing pretty pictures and shopping, when, in fact,
it's one of the easiest methods for show news. Unlike news readers,
Pinterest requires active engagement to share, and that makes it an
appealing tool for me. I can choose what I like from across the Web and
Pinterest users—not friends—can make a call on my judgment based on the
category I choose."

For Little it is about demonstrating how she engages with news and
media. When applying for a job recently, she including the link to her
Pinterest account in her cover letter to also show her news judgement.

“One board that I'm particularly proud of is my 'Netflix Instant
Movies to Watch.' Let's face it, we can't rely on ratings and likes
anymore, because they're easily received. The ability to look at
someone's taste using one social tool is amazing.”

How do you use Pinterest professionally?