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Pinterest Savvy is Free on Kindle Today

April 3, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Pinterest Savvy: How I Got 1 Million+ Followers (Strategies, Plans, and Tips to Grow Your Business with Pinterest)
Today there are 3 Free books on Kindle that may be of interest to you as a blogger. I have had a chance to look over Pinterest Savvy and have found that it is filled with tips that I think can really be useful to growing your following on Pinterest. Some tips that I have already used prior to reading this book and have found helpful are:

  1. Create a board named for your blog – pin your blog posts there first before repinning.
  2. Pin from the original source. Then you (and your Pinterest board) will be named as the original pinner no matter how many times it is repinned.
  3. Have detailed boards broken down by micro subjects for areas you want to gain followers. Instead of “Food I want to try” create boards named “Cake Recipes”, “Decorating Tips”, “Barbecue and Grilling Recipes”, etc.

Since Melissa Taylor recommends things that I have already discovered to be effective, I feel that many of her other tips are worth giving a try.

Free Books on Kindle Today:

Pinterest – Build Your Brand, Your Tribe, Your Sales (2nd Ed)

How to get 1000 Real Twitter Followers in 25 Days or Less. A Step by Step Formula.

Pinterest Savvy: How I Got 1 Million+ Followers (Strategies, Plans, and Tips to Grow Your Business with Pinterest)

 

Thanks to Saving in Nevada for sharing this and other free books on Kindle.

I don’t know how long this book will be free, so check the price before you “buy” it. You don’t have to have a Kindle to take advantage of this deal. You can download Free Kindle Apps for your Computer or Smart Phone.

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Use Pinterest to Decide Which Posts to Update

September 26, 2012 By 4 Comments

Do you know how to tell which of your posts are being pinned? Besides looking at your blog stats at the end of the day. Do you want to know what people are saying about your posts when they pin them, if anything? Or if they are being repinned?

Well, I will show you how, but I don’t want you to waste a lot of time doing this. Use this occasionally as a tool to improve your posts and traffic.

How to find Which Posts are Being Pinned on Pinterest:

In the link below, replace my blog’s URL (it is in orange) with your blog’s URL

http://pinterest.com/source/premeditatedleftovers.com/

and then enter the link in your browser and hit enter and you will be taken to a list of your posts that have been pinned.

How to See which posts are being pinned

How is seeing which posts have been pinned helpful? Just from these few pins, I can see that my followers are already thinking ahead to fall. Now, would be a good time for me to start sharing fall posts, both old and new, across my social media accounts.

I can also tell that my followers are not writing blurbs, they are using the names of the pictures in my posts. Which is okay for the posts that have nicely named images using key words. But as you can see from the image in the center top row, I still have unnamed images on my blog. And since that casserole is a turkey rice bake, now would be a good time to update that post and name the image because turkey recipes are going to continue to trend over the next 2 months.

How to Update Old Posts:

Rename the Images in Your Old Posts – Seriously, this is huge; take the time to do it.

Include Internal Links to Related Posts this is the easiest way to increase your page views.

Look for Opportunities to Include Key Words and consider bolding key words. Reorganize the post to include  H1 or H2 headings to make your keywords standout and your post easier to follow for your readers.

Monetize Posts with Relevant Ads

Once you have updated your post, go and share it on all of your social media accounts!

Have you started updating your fall and winter posts yet?

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How to Increase Blog Traffic with Pinterest

September 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment

While the rest of the blogosphere was pondering Pinterest, complaining about it, and talking about how it would never become a significant social media like Facebook or Twitter, Foodies were quietly dominating the Pinterest boards. Image rich posts like recipes and tutorials do really well on Pinterest.  Here are a few tips to maximize your usage of Pinterest to increase traffic to your blog.

Use Pinterest to increase your blog traffic

Use Pinterest to Grow Your Blog

Make sure you have filled out your profile and linked to your blog, Twitter and Facebook Page. I cannot tell you how many bloggers forget to add a link to their blog. If another pinner likes your pins and clicks on your profile to see if you have a blog and you don’t have a link…they will just move on…and you will have lost a potential follower. Always include a link to your blog on your social media profiles!

Create boards that are an extension of the topics you blog about. If you blog about food, don’t have one board titled “Food I Like”. Break your food boards down by topic: Appetizers, Soups and Stews, Desserts, Fast Dinner Recipes, etc. Then pin items that you discover that fit those categories to those boards.

Arrange your boards so that the board topics that most people connect to your blog are at the top of your wall and your personal boards are at the bottom. You can also rearrange your boards to place seasonably appropriate boards at the top of your wall. Once people are following you they will find your pins in their stream. However, before they follow you they will check your wall to decide if they want to follow you.

Share your reader’s posts on Pinterest. I often pin posts that I discover on the blog hops that I co-host. Pinterest also allows you to share your pins on Facebook and Twitter, so you can share over several different medias at once. Adding the “pin it” button to your tool bar makes this process fast and easy.

Add the “Follow Me on Pinterest” button to your sidebar. You will find the directions for adding the button on the Pinterest Goodies page.

How to Generate Traffic From Pinterest on New Posts

Remember, not every post is pin-worthy. Posts without pictures or posts that are visually uninteresting won’t do well on Pinterest. Other types of posts that should not be pinned: sales, giveaways, coupons and most reviews.

You need at least one good picture of the final product for a pin-worthy post. Tutorials with multiple pictures on just about any topic do well. Posts pinned to Pinterest do not need to be as jazzy as those that are stumbled. Pinners have a longer attention spam than stumblers and are looking for some meaty content as well as a good picture.

You can add a “pin it” button to your post. WordPress users can use the “Post It On Pinterest” plugin. The plugin allows you to choose the picture and text to go with your pin. WordPress users can also add the “Pinterest button to their ShareThis buttons.

Unfortunately, there is not a plugin that I know of for bloggers, but you can create a custom pin for a particular post. You will find a form to create your custom pin in Pinterest Goodies. Even with the form, it is a bit time-consuming, so I recommend adding this only to posts that you think people will want to pin – be objective!

Generating Traffic and Income from Old Posts:

People are finding my old posts by doing a Google search, then pinning the post, which creates traffic for my old posts. Another way to generate traffic for your old posts is to pin your old posts as they become relevant again.  When you notice that fellow pinners are pinning posts on a certain subject review your old posts and see if you have any relevant posts to add.

Once you find that one of your old posts is being pinned, optimize it!

Go over old posts that have been pinned and check to make sure all of the links work.

Check to see if there is a natural way to monetize the post with something that is relevant. If there isn’t, it is better to leave the post unmonetized than to annoy your readers.

Add related links. I like to do this by hand rather than allow a plugin to do it because I can pick the posts that I feel are mostly like to interest those that land on that page. For instance, most of the people who pin my post Ideas for Reusing Kleenex Boxes pin the picture of the marshallow catapult, so I know they are looking for ideas for children. A plugin would probably link “reusing” or “repurposing” posts, but I hand-picked “frugal fun ideas for kids” posts when creating “related posts” to appeal to the people who were arriving at Ideas for Reusing Kleenex Boxes and generate more traffic for my blog.

Final Tips for Pinterest

When people create a board, they assign a category to it, so when they pin your post to a board it is seen not only by their followers, but anybody who has expressed an interest in following that category. Your post is in their stream for a day or two, unless it continues to be pinned and goes viral, but it remains on their board unless they remove it. Even if the pinner has few followers, their pin is seen longer than it would be on faster moving social medias.

Pinterest has allowed me to get to know my readers and my readers to get to know me at a different level. Because I have personal boards in addition to my blog-centric boards, my readers see a different side of me and I see who is planning a wedding, who has an Angry Birds addiction, who is redecorating a room, who is homeschooling, and who has rambunctious children and pin tips for keeeping them entertained.

I find it easier to limit my time on Pinterest than other social medias because I can quickly look through pictures and push repin if I see something I like. I don’t have to think of a witty response, I just click through to verify that it is a legitimate pin,  hit repin, pick a board, and I am done. The same pins move up and down the boards throughout the day, so you don’t have to spend a lot of time on Pinterest to see what is being pinned. I spend 5 -10 minutes 2 -3 times a day. If you find it addictive, set a timer.

How are you using Pinterest?

Related Posts:

How to Grow a Facebook Page and Increase Engagement

How to Link to Specific Social Media Statuses in Posts

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How to Link to Social Media Accounts In Posts

August 16, 2012 By 1 Comment

There are times when you will want to link to a Facebook status, a tweet or a Pinterest pin in your post. Linking directly to the status has the advantage of bringing your readers up to speed on a conversation, without boring the readers who have already seen it. It also shows those who are not following you on those platforms what they are missing out on. By providing them with a link demonstrating how you use that account, you are giving them more incentive to follow you and participate.

How to Link Directly to a Facebook Status:

How to find the URL for a Facebook status

To create a link to a Facebook status, you need to find the URL (permalink) for that status.

1. Each Facebook status has a date and time stamp. You will find it right below your Facebook Page Name. In my case, below Premeditated Leftovers. It might look like 5 minutes ago, 18 hours ago, Tuesday, or 21 July. When you mouse over it, you will see the exact time and date that status was published. Click on the time stamp.

2. Once you click on the link, you will be taken to link for that status. Select and copy the URL.

3. Paste that URL into your link box to create a link. (Here is how to create an effective link)

Example using the above Facebook status as a link:

Yesterday, we had a discussion on how to get picky children to eat vegetables on my Facebook page and some of my friends pointed out that it isn’t just children who are picky. Since my husband learned to eat anything while serving in the Navy, it didn’t occur to me that spouses could be also be picky.

Although I talk a lot about key words, it really isn’t necessary to use keywords when linking to one of your social media accounts.

How to Create a Link to a Tweet:

How to find the URL for a Twitter Tweet

Creating a link to a tweet on Twitter is similar to creating a link to a Facebook status.

1. On the top right of your tweet, you will find a time stamp. It can look like 15s, 3m, 5h, or 14 Aug. It is directly across from your name and Twitter handle. Click on the time stamp.

2. Once you click on the link, you will be taken to link for that status. (If the tweet is part of a conversation, the tweets before and after it will also show up). Select and copy the URL.

3. Paste that URL into your link box to create a link.

Example using the above Tweet as a link:

My friend Melinda shared her method for keeping her house free of flies.

How to Create a Link to a Specific Pinterest Pin:

How to find the URL for a pinterest pin

If I wanted to tell my readers that my Earthquake Cake was described as a “chocolate love bomb” on Pinterest, I could use the opportunity to send them to the pin.

1. Ignore all the buttons surrounding the picture and click directly on the picture.

2. Once you click on the picture, you will be taken to link for that status. Select and copy the URL.

How to find the URL and create a direct link to a pin

3. Paste that URL into your link box to create a link.

Example using the above pin as a link. You don’t have to limit yourself to using these links in your blog post. I could use this link to create a Facebook status:

My Earthquake Cake was described as a “chocolate love bomb”: http://pinterest.com/pin/229331805995023371/

I know you have links to your social media on your side bar, but some readers will not recognize your link format as such, and still others have become desensitized to all the sidebar links and ignore them. Linking to your social media accounts in your blog posts can increase engagement across your various platforms. It also allows your readers to enter the conversation on a media that they feel comfortable using.

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