Follow your passion
Do you have a passion that’s easy to monetize? For instance, if you love fashion, you can create boards that attract people who also follow fashion. First, define your target audience; it might be women in their twenties or thirties who follow fashion trends.
Then, create your boards to attract followers and build a mailing list. Some active users have thousands of followers, but you don’t need a large audience in order to make money. You can sell directly to your followers or promote offers for popular brands.
Get sponsorship
Sometimes it pays to build a large following on Pinterest, especially if you want sponsorship from a larger brand. Build a following within your target audience and handpick companies that offer products that might appeal to your community of followers. Make sure to only promote products within your niche as you’ll risk losing followers.
So if your boards are related to fashion, locate companies that offer handbags, shoes, clothing and related accessories. Compile your account’s statistics and share them with the companies that might be interested in sponsorship. Throw out incentives to get the company to agree to a longer term sponsorship.
Promote affiliate products
Affiliates earn money for promoting and selling other people’s products. Affiliate marketing on Pinterest might be tricky but still possible. The network’s terms and conditions do not forbid affiliate marketing, but they do put up roadblocks. For instance, Pinterest will strip your affiliate ID from your links, so it’s best to use a Bit.ly shortened link on your images.
Always test your links and pin images from a review post or video. Pins from list-style posts are most effective, especially if each item has an affiliate link. Don’t spam your audience. Pinterest takes action against affiliate spammers and will deactivate your account without notice.
Sell your own products
If you have a product, Pinterest might be a terrific place to pick up more sales. Host a contest to attract interest but keep the network’s guidelines in mind. Big and small brands use contests to engage their customers. With proper planning, a contest will draw interest to your product and get people talking about your brand.
However, a contest also leads to a lot of needless Pins – users are motivated to add Pins they won’t normally add. This can be interpreted as spam and Pinterest might intervene if there’s a risk to users’ experience.
Re-pin and make money
Pinterest is first and foremost a social network, so you need to get active if you want users to re-pin your pins.
Pin other people’s pins, especially from those people in your target audience.
They will notice your re-pins and may choose to follow your boards.
When they do, you’ll improve your chances of making money from any of the avenues discussed above.
Teach Pinterest strategies to others
The continued growth of Pinterest has provided opportunities for resourceful entrepreneurs. Developers have created tools to help users, but if you’re not technically inclined, you can make money sharing your success strategies with others. Create an e-book or course on improving Pinterest success or offer your services to business owners who want to improve their visibility on the network.