Blogging is known to be the best way of building passive income or a side business that has helped millions of people eke out a living or make some extra bucks. But what if you’re not interested in the intricacies of blogging or your audience is satisfied with your content on Pinterest?
In that case, we will need to look into and find ways to make money through Pinterest.
Is it possible?
Absolutely!
Will it be easy?
Fortunately… Pinterest is an amazing driver of traffic. But without a blog or website, you’ll need to resort to different strategies. Let’s see how you can overcome this challenge and still make money with Pinterest alone!
Make Money on Pinterest without starting blogging
In this concise guide, we’ll reveal effective strategies for generating income on Pinterest without the need for a blog. From affiliate marketing and captivating pin creation to launching an online store and offering specialized services, you’ll discover various avenues to monetize your presence on this dynamic platform.
By understanding Pinterest’s algorithms, optimizing your profile and boards, and driving traffic to your monetized pins, you’ll be well-equipped to turn your passion into profit. Get ready to explore the vast opportunities that Pinterest has to offer and embark on a journey of financial success.
Join us as we unlock the potential of Pinterest and show you how to monetize your presence, all without the need for a blog.
Let’s dive in and discover the exciting world of earning on Pinterest!
Approach Pinterest as a Business
Pinterest has been highlighted as a powerful search engine that helps “connect everyone in the world through the things they find interesting.”
And this is what makes the platform so awesome. It opens doors to almost every niche and industry with 444 million monthly Pinterest users according to Statista.
With a market this big, your audience and income opportunities are huge! And the way to reach this untapped opportunity is to think like a business on Pinterest.
Your task is to build new sales funnels to create a buyer journey for your audience to find your Pinterest page and understand what you’re trying to give to them.
What are the challenges of using Pinterest without a Blog?
Blogs are central to passive income!
A blog can be looked at as a platform where bloggers can insert affiliate links, share ebooks, banner ads, paid links, and use many other monetization methods. Without a blog, all these income streams are stripped away and you have to resort to other methods.
While many people use Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter for branding and product display, a blog is still the best platform for anyone to make money. But let’s say you are still not convinced by blogging. In the next steps, we’ll look through several ways how can build traffic and money with Pinterest.
How can you use Pinterest without a Blog?
Now that we’ve gone through some of the challenges, let’s look at some of the practical ways you can start making money on Pinterest. There are six main ways to make money on Pinterest alone:
- Sell Physical products
- Sell Digital Products
- Affiliate Marketing
- Consultation
- Sponsored Post
- Virtual Assistance
Let’s go through each and see how you can make the most out of Pinterest.
Sell Physical Products
What makes Pinterest such a powerful social media tool is it allows you to create pins from graphics, infographics, short videos, and designs. To monetize Pinterest you need to create these pins to attract your page visitors who are interested in your products. Originally your products can be on Etsy, eBay, Credo, Amazon, or any other eCommerce platform.
In order for people to see your products, you can create pins on Pinterest, which you can link to an eCommerce store like Amazon. This way you can funnel traffic to your Amazon store.
Some examples of physical products:
- Office Decor
- Towels
- Mugs
- Hoodies
- Pillowcases
- T-shirts
- Baseball hats
- Toys
Sell Digital Products
Just like with physical things, you can sell digital products (sometimes much faster and easier.)
A few examples of digital goods include:
- Ebooks
- Online courses
- Printables
- Graphics and digital art
- Web-based applications
- Music and Audio
- Cloud design app templates
When you create a pin about your product or service, Canva is a tool we’d suggest using. On top of that, make sure you spend enough time brainstorming on having a captivating, keyword-rich headline and caption. Insert your product or service page’s URL and post it on Pinterest!
Affiliate Marketing
What is affiliate marketing?
If you are new to the term, it is simply earning a commission by promoting and selling products or services on one of your platforms. Your primary goal with these programs is to make commissions by recommending products and services you believe will sell well.
Pinterest allows the placement of affiliate URLs on its platform.
With this option, you can directly point your Pinterest traffic with pins to an affiliate offer without having to go through the trouble of creating a blog. However, this is where niche marketing comes into the picture as the use of Pinterest SEO.
You need to choose specific affiliate links that are closely associated with your niche and start promoting them. Selecting the best affiliate programs is not very difficult.
How to choose the Best Affiliate programs for Pinterest
Here are some of the biggest and most popular affiliate networks to check out:
Now there is an endless possibility of building up a series of affiliate products or services that you’d like to promote and commissions for. You can sell rubber ducks from Amazon Associates, or podcast hosting and data storage with Buzzsrpout.
But at the end of the day, sticking to your niche is crucial when creating pins that represent something that is closely associated with your affiliate product. Make sure you understand and believe in the affiliate product or service you wish to represent in order to consistently maintain a solid income stream.
Consultancy and Skill sharing
Assuming you’ve got in-depth knowledge in a specific field, it’s time to put it to use in person and let your audience know about it. When creating pins, you can appeal to your customers with short tutorials, videos, or images that explain your services.
In order to build trust with the everyday browser, you need to provide a service that is in need and show your audience why you are a qualified person to seek out your help.
Here are just a few examples of services that you can pin about:
- DIY
- Digital Marketing
- graphic design
- life coaching
- Copywriting
- Home decoration
- Health instruction
- Fitness
- Cooking
In most cases, Pinterest alone is just a way of generating leads or the first step of customer acquisition. And it is great at that. But in cases of finding paying customers, you might need to provide references or show a reputation for your skills and services to open up people’s digital wallets.
Sponsored Content
Making money through sponsored pins would require advanced Pinterest accounts with several thousand followers minimum.
A Pinterest account with a large follower base (that provides a high click-through rate) is eligible for a series of sponsored pins. This would mean that you can enter an agreement with another individual or business that wants to get featured on one of your pins to endorse their brand.
Depending on your audience size and engagement, you can start negotiating with a business about the amount they should pay you per pin. This is common among celebrities, public figures, or influencers’ other social media accounts.
For example, Cristiano Ronaldo received the highest sum of money so far for a sponsored post on Instagram, around $1.6 million to endorse a product on his channel.
Obviously, an average Pinterest owner will not be able to follow suit. But you get the point. A sizeable Pinterest account in a narrow niche with an active audience can be a literal goldmine to attract sponsored pins.
How to find brands that can sponsor your pins?
Leave your contact details on your front page
It’s pretty straightforward to have your details on your homepage where people can contact you, like a business email. If you have a sizeable audience, you might be bombed with phishing and spamming emails from day one or maybe fan letters.
But through the piles of virtual spam, you will likely receive offers from third parties who are looking for Pinterest influencers to help their clients’ brands.
Start an outreach email campaign
If you’re not having luck through reams of spam emails, you can launch a campaign of brands that would be suitable for your promotion.
You’d have to create short and thoughtful pitch emails to explain your intentions and why you’d be a great fit for being a sponsor. These cold emails are normally rejected or ghosted. But a persistent and well-executed outreach campaign will always land a few good leads who’d be willing to pay.
If you’re running a business that relies heavily on Pinterest, you can always outsource a PR campaign where an agency would do the heavy lifting and start finding suitable brands for your Pinterest account.
Become a member of a sponsored network
If you’re on a tight budget and your time is scarce, there is a third alternative. You can sign up for a sponsored network where you can upload your profile and you’ll be contacted when someone fits your Pinterest profile and vice-versa.
In these sponsored networks you can also search for brand deals and apply for them.
Having a strong and loyal Pinterest base that follows you, will make your channel even more attractive than an average blog or small Youtube Channel.
Become a Pinterest Virtual Assistant
If you are a skilled Pinterest user and promoter, you can help others set up their account, grow their brands, and increase their sales through the platform.
This is what a Pinterest virtual assistant does. Similar to social media managers on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, you’d manage your client’s Pinterest accounts to help them reach their marketing goals.
You can find clients by setting up an account on Fiverr and offering your skills to anyone in the need of support they need on Pinterest!
How much can a Pinterest virtual assistant make?
Pinterest VAs can start earning $15 and go up to $50 per hour. In some cases in the US, you can charge a monthly fee of $500 to $1000.
With increased proficiency and a growing portfolio, mid-level Pinterest virtual assistants can earn between $25 and $40 per hour.
Experienced Pinterest virtual assistants with a proven track record of delivering exceptional results and offering specialized services can command higher rates, ranging from $40 to $50 or more per hour. These professionals may have established long-term client relationships and possess advanced skills in areas such as content creation, graphic design, and social media strategy, enabling them to offer premium services.
It’s important to note that the actual earnings of a Pinterest virtual assistant can also depend on factors such as the number of clients served, the complexity of projects undertaken, and the overall demand for Pinterest-related services. As virtual assistants gain more experience and expertise, they may also have opportunities to take on higher-paying projects, offer additional services, or expand their business.
Ultimately, the earning potential for a Pinterest virtual assistant is influenced by various factors, including their level of experience, the value they bring to clients, and the prevailing market rates for their services.
Final Conclusion
Having a blog is essential in many ways to build various income streams. But even without one, making money on Pinterest alone is quite possible in multiple ways.
If you already have a Pinterest account with a dozen engaging followers, you can leverage that as not only a reference to get clients but also to build various income streams.
