Pinterest Tips

I love Pinterest! I think it is an amazing way to hoard recipes, interests, fitness routines, etc in an organized, accessible way! I have learned a few tips since I started pinning, and I would like to share them with you. If you have tips of your own, please feel free to leave them in the comment section!

 1.) You can't think too small. When I started pinning, I set up my boards according to what Pinterest suggested, and I realized later on that I was filling up some of my boards, so that finding a pin wasn't as easy as it could be. Now they have a feature where you can search your own pins, but you still may not remember what you pinned 760 pins ago under FOOD or STYLE. Some of my boards are still very broad, but breaking food down to meals, drinks, sweets, gluten free, etc., makes it easier to find what you are looking for. I have even seen people who pin things to a bread or pasta board. Don't be afraid to separate your interests into their own individual board.

2.) Secret boards are great for further organizing your larger boards. I was shopping recently, and I was looking for colored jeans and suggested shirts/accessories to go with them. I started a secret board called Combos where I pulled out all of my pins of colored jeans and what to wear with them from my fashion board. It made it easy to just look at a board with the specific pins on it, and by having it secret, I didn't repin them for my followers to see again.

3.) Another great way to use a secret board is when you are having an obsessive moment (and most Pinterest users have them), and you want to pin a large number of pins at one time. You surely don't want to overwhelm your followers by having 50 pictures of doors show up on their page, so make it secret, and when you have pinned all you want to pin at that time, make it visible to all. They won't get flooded with each individual pin, but they will then be able to see your board and your subsequent pins later on.

4.) One more great use I have found for having a secret board is for recipes that I have tried and liked. Making it secret, again keeps your followers from seeing all of the pins a second time, and it organizes your recipes (or could be any ideas or anything else you've tried) into the ones you like and want to try/use again.

5.) Come up with clever names for your boards. This sets you apart from the crowd, and it draws people to your boards more so than if you just use the names that Pinterest suggests. So instead of "For the Home", you could use something like "My Humble Abode". It gets rid of the boring!

6.) Don't just be a repinner! Pin things that you find on the internet yourself or that you upload yourself. This puts more pins and choices out there for everyone else. You are actually contributing to the world of Pinterest instead of just taking something from it. I have one board where about 80% of the pins on there are ones I have added myself. It's fun to see who repins them.

7.) Go through your follow list occasionally and stop following those who have completely different interests. It will keep your page from being filled with things that bore you.

8.) If you don't want to follow all boards that someone has, just follow the specific ones you are interested in. I have no interest in certain things, and that can actually be someone's largest board. One of my celebrity boards has over 200 pins (my followers probably know which one I'm talking about) and is of no interest to some. However, it is the most interesting to others, so adjusting what boards you choose to follow helps narrow your page down tremendously.

9.) If you want to pin something with no message underneath the pin, just hit the spacebar. This is a great way to get around that annoying message that says a description is required! Some things are self-explainatory.

10.) If you are just starting out, don't get overwhelmed! Start out slow, think of things you like and start searching for pins related to it. I have a friend who has 26,000 pins! I think it was like 11,000 when I started pinning, and I was completely overwhelmed thinking I had to know everything there was to know about Pinterest that very day! No matter how big or small your board is, or how new you are to Pinterest, it's a lot of fun waiting to be had. The world of Pinterest is huge!

 I will add more tips as I think of them, but I'd love to hear yours. Happy pinning!!!