Getting Started: Using Pinterest to Make Money From Home

In my last post, I covered why you should be using Pinterest for online marketing. Now, let’s talk about how to get started using Pinterest to make money from home.

Maybe you have a product, blog, or website you want to drive traffic to. Or maybe you’re interested in how you can actually make money from home even if you have no business or product to sell, using affiliate marketing.

291 MILLION people use Pinterest each month! It just makes sense to use it as a platform to get yourself seen.

There are many tools and tips you’ll learn along the way, but I don’t want to overwhelm you before you even start. It will all come in time if you stay consistent and keep learning. But for now, let’s look at the absolute first tools I used to get my feet wet:

This post contains affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I may receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you. All opinions are my own. Read my full disclosure here.

 

Create a Blog/Website Using SiteGround and WordPress

It’s true. You CAN start affiliate marketing on Pinterest without a website. BUT if you already have a product to sell you may want to set up a blog or website. A blog is also a great way to reach a niche market you are passionate about and promote affiliate links to your audience.

When I started this blog I needed a platform. I chose WordPress, hosted by SiteGround. SiteGround is a web hosting service that provides top speed, security, and expert support. I set up my domain name with them and installed WordPress through them as well.

Any issues I had getting anything set up, I used their online chat feature and got fast help and answers to any questions I had. If I couldn’t figure out how to do something, they went in and did it for me!

WordPress is where you design and control the look, pages, posts, etc. of your blog or website. They offer themes and templates to make it easy if you don’t quite know how to get started. 
Find out more about SiteGround here and WordPress here. 

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Related Post: Why SiteGround is Your Best Option For Web Hosting

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Pinterest Business Account

I didn’t have a business or product to promote but wanted to try my hand at affiliate marketing. After setting up my blog, the next thing I did was create a Pinterest Business Account.

Joining as a business gives you an inside look at how your pins are performing using Pinterest Analytics. It allows you to see what pins are getting the most views, clicks, saves and by who. You can also see what boards are your most popular and how many people are actually seeing your pins per day. You’ll quickly learn who your audience is and that’s such a powerful tool.

You’ll see what’s working and what’s not. Allowing you to adjust things as needed. You absolutely need a business account to start using Pinterest to make money.  Join as a business here.

 

Pinning Affiliate Links & Ads Using ShareASale

(Affiliate links are provided by an online retailer who then pays you a commission to promote or drive traffic to their sites, resulting in sales).

ShareASale is an Affiliate Marketing Network. You’ll find lots of merchants in various niches who are looking for bloggers to promote their products. Ever wonder where bloggers get those ads that run down the sidebar of their blog posts? Find a merchant that fits your niche and they’ll provide you with those sidebar ads. You can also create a custom referral link for the specific products they sell.

There are fantastic merchants like Stella & Dot, Gymboree, and Wayfair looking for promoters. You choose a product to promote, write a review, create pins, and get sharing to Pinterest and on your blog.

Join for free here.  Just make sure you are pinning other content as well and not JUST affiliate links. This looks spammy and could get your Pinterest account suspended.

* If you’re still not confident in your understanding of affiliate links, the link below is not only an example of one of my affiliate links but will also take you to a great (and very affordable) e-book that can help you get started:  Affiliate Action Plan – From Clicks to Conversions in 1 Month.

 

Related Reading:
–How I Use SendOwl to Make Consistent Affiliate Sales
–Affiliate Marketing for Beginners

 

Design Pins with Canva

Canva is a great way to create your own pins. It’s free to sign up and they have great images and templates to get you started. It’s fast and very easy to use. You may have found this blog post on Pinterest from a pin I created using Canva. You can use their templates or create a pin from scratch, adjusting colors and sizes to make things really eye-catching and effective. Sign up for Canva here.

Need styled stock photos to create your new pins? Check out my latest freebie below:
10 Free Stock Photos for Girl Bosses

 

 

Become an Amazon Associate

You can buy pretty much anything on Amazon these days. Which means you can find lots of products that fit in with your audience. You can join Amazon as an Associate and place product referrals on your blog or website. If that referral leads to a sale, you get a commission!

The Amazon Associates Program is one of the largest and most successful online affiliate programs out there and they make it really easy to use. To join or just get more info, simply scroll to the bottom of Amazon.ca or Amazon.com and find “become an associate” OR go here (Canada) or here (US). Once you join you have 180 days to make your first sale.

This program is the perfect fit for using Pinterest to make money!

You can place Amazon affiliate links on Pinterest. BUT you must make sure you disclose it as an affiliate link. Make sure you read the Associates Program Operating Agreement to fully understand what you are allowed to do. 

And if you really want to make the most of your 180 trial period and ensure you make that first sale and understand all the rules, check out this helpful E-book: How to Make Money with Amazon Affiliates

 

YouTube for Tutorials

In the beginning, YouTube is your best friend. I stumbled upon affiliate marketing through Pinterest. I was intrigued and wanted to learn more. YouTube made it so easy to learn all the terminology and how it worked. I learned some basic steps to take (much like these) in video format that allowed me to listen while I did other things around the house. There are so many useful tutorials and anytime I had trouble using one of these new platforms, I could always find a helpful “how-to” video that steered me in the right direction.

 

Tailwind

Tailwind is like your Pinterest assistant. In the beginning, you may feel like you’re spending all your time pinning. You pin to stay relevant and to get your affiliate links out there. And, the more you pin the more you’re seen. But, pinning a ton of affiliate links all at once just isn’t sustainable. (AND it makes you look spammy). Enter Tailwind.

Tailwind is a pin scheduler. And it’s brilliant! You tell them what you want to pin and they tell you the best time to pin those items for the pique visibility. Then it schedules and pins them for you. Great if you are heading out on vacation or if your week is going to be really busy.

They also offer Tailwind Tribes, where you can collaborate with other Tailwind users in your niche market, which is so helpful, especially when you are getting started. And the absolute best part about Tailwind…you can use it for free for 100 pins. So you really have nothing to lose. Tailwind’s Analytics are also seriously amazing and provide helpful insights to help you succeed. 
Sign up for a free trial of Tailwind here.

Update: Tailwind has recently added an Instagram Scheduler as well! You can make Instagram posts from your Tailwind account, schedule your posts, use their handy (new & improved) Hashtag Finder, check your post’s analytics, and more.

 

 

Last but definitely not least…

Pinterest is an incredibly powerful tool when it comes to growing/monetizing a blog or website. But only if you know how to use it. You may think you know how Pinterest works. I know I did. Until I discovered Pinteresting Strategies.  That’s when I realized just how much I didn’t know!

Thanks to this course, over 80% of my blog traffic comes from Pinterest. It is, in my opinion, THE BEST Pinterest course out there! If you get yourself up and running but just aren’t seeing results, I urge you to check it out. You can read more about my personal experience with it here: The Secret to Getting Traffic From Pinterest.

 

 

To wrap this up…

These resources will provide you with the basics you need to get started using Pinterest to make money from home. It won’t happen overnight, but this will give you a good foundation to get started. Check out the links I provided and feel free to comment with any questions you may have.

To really take your new venture to the next level, check out my latest post:
5 Completely FREE Training Courses for Beginner Bloggers.

 

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For more handy dandy Pinterest Tips, check out my board below:

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Blogging Resources I love and recommend:

SiteGround – I use SiteGround as my web hosting platform and I love it. They are trusted by the owners of over 1,900,000 domains! It’s secure, fast, reliable, and the customer service is AMAZING! I’ve contacted them for help for a few reasons and received outstanding support. Learn more about SiteGround HERE.

Tailwind – Is the Pin Scheduler of choice amongst most bloggers. Tailwind allows me to schedule my pins on the days I can’t be near my computer. It’s like a blog/Pinterest assistant. If you haven’t already, sign up for a FREE month of Tailwind HERE.

ShareASale – If you are interested in monetizing your blog through affiliate marketing, ShareASale has got to be one of the easiest ways to do it! They’ve got merchants for every niche looking for affiliates to promote their products. Learn more about ShareASale HERE.

Grammarly – I saw a huge improvement in my writing after installing Grammarly. It’s the World’s leading checker of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and plagiarism. The better your writing, the more credible you will seem to you readers. Did I mention they have a FREE version? Check it out HERE.