Pinning for Profit Guide: Step-by-Step Plan to Earn $2,000 in 90 Days
Introduction
Welcome to the Pinning for Profit Guide! If you’re ready to transform your Pinterest account into a powerful revenue stream, this guide is for you. By following these detailed steps, you’ll learn how to scale your Pinterest account from zero to $2,000 a month in just 90 days.
Whether you’re completely new to Pinterest or an experienced user, this guide will provide actionable steps to grow your audience, increase your traffic, and monetize your efforts.
Step 1: Choosing the Right Niche
Why it matters:
Choosing the right niche is the foundation of your entire Pinterest strategy. Your niche determines everything from the type of content you create to how you’ll make money. It needs to be broad enough to appeal to a large audience but specific enough to allow you to stand out from the competition. A strong niche also ensures that your content is evergreen, meaning people will search for it year-round, not just during certain seasons.
If you select a niche with high demand and low competition, it’s easier to rank in Pinterest’s search results, get repins, and attract more followers. The right niche will also give you more monetization opportunities, whether through affiliate marketing, selling products, or offering services. Without a strong, well-chosen niche, you could spend months posting content that doesn’t resonate with users or generate any meaningful traffic.
Action Steps:
- Research Popular Pinterest Niches:
- Go to Pinterest and explore trending topics in the search bar. Pay attention to the results that have high engagement—those with lots of repins, likes, or comments.
- Use tools like Pinterest Trends or Google Trends to see what niches are popular and growing.
- Select a Profitable Niche:
- Choose a niche that aligns with your interests and has proven demand. Some beginner-friendly niches include:
- Home Organization & Decluttering
- DIY Craft Ideas
- Budget-Friendly Recipes
- Fitness & Wellness
- Ensure that your niche can be monetized through affiliate marketing, ads, or selling digital products.
- Choose a niche that aligns with your interests and has proven demand. Some beginner-friendly niches include:
Step 2: Set Up a Professional Profile
Why it matters:
Your Pinterest profile is essentially your brand’s homepage, and it’s often the first impression users will have of you. A well-optimized, professional profile will boost your credibility, help build trust, and attract your target audience. Pinterest users are more likely to follow, repin, or engage with profiles that appear polished and authoritative.
By optimizing your profile with the right keywords, images, and branding, you’ll improve your visibility in Pinterest’s search results. This is especially important as you grow your account because a strong profile means higher follower retention and more engagement—both of which are critical for Pinterest’s algorithm to rank your content higher.
Action Steps:
- Create or Optimize Your Pinterest Account:
- Profile Name: Choose a name that includes your niche keywords. For example, “Organized Home Life” or “DIY Craft Projects” will perform better than a generic name.
- Profile Picture: Use a clear, professional profile photo or a branded logo that resonates with your niche.
- Bio: Write a keyword-rich bio that explains what your profile is about and how users will benefit from following you. Use phrases like “Find the best [niche]” or “Learn easy tips for [niche].”
- Claim Your Website:
- If you have a blog or online store, claim it on Pinterest. This will give your profile more authority and unlock advanced analytics to track how your content performs.
- Don’t have a website? Consider linking to a landing page where you collect email sign-ups or promote affiliate products.
Beginner Tip: Even if you don’t have a website yet, use your profile bio and boards to show potential followers the value they’ll get from your content.
Step 3: Create Eye-Catching Pins
Why it matters:
Pinterest is a visual search engine, which means that your pins need to grab attention if you want to stand out. Well-designed pins are crucial because they increase click-through rates (CTR), engagement, and repins. This means more people will see your content, visit your website, and potentially buy your products or click on your affiliate links.
High-quality pins are more likely to appear in Pinterest’s “Smart Feed,” Pinterest’s algorithm-driven homepage that shows users content based on their interests. The better your pin design, the more repins and saves you’ll get, which signals to Pinterest that your content is valuable. This improves your ranking and visibility on the platform, leading to exponential growth in your traffic and earnings.
Action Steps:
- Design Your First Set of Pins:
- Use free tools like Canva or Crello to design pins. Start with vertical pins (1000 x 1500 px) as Pinterest favors this format.
- Focus on creating clean, visually appealing designs with easy-to-read text. Your pin should make users curious and want to learn more.
- Use High-Quality Images and Text Overlays:
- Choose bright, high-resolution images related to your niche (Unsplash and Pexels are great free resources).
- Add bold text overlays with clear, compelling messages. For example, “10 Easy DIY Projects” or “Quick Weeknight Dinner Ideas.”
- Create 10-15 Pins to Start:
- Aim for at least 10-15 pins covering different topics in your niche. This gives your profile a well-rounded look and increases your chances of getting discovered.
- Test out different types of content, such as lists, how-tos, and inspirational quotes.
Beginner Tip: Don’t stress about being perfect at pin design. Start simple and improve as you go. Consistency is more important than flawless designs in the beginning.
Step 4: Master Pinterest SEO
Why it matters:
Pinterest is not just a social media platform—it’s a visual search engine. This means that optimizing your pins, boards, and profile for search is one of the most important strategies for growing your traffic. Pinterest SEO allows your content to show up when users search for keywords relevant to your niche.
By optimizing for SEO, you increase the discoverability of your pins in Pinterest search results, which means more clicks, repins, and followers. Pinterest’s algorithm favors well-optimized content, and the more people interact with your pins, the higher they’ll rank. This creates a snowball effect: more exposure leads to more engagement, which leads to more followers and ultimately more earnings.
Action Steps:
- Do Keyword Research:
- Start by typing your niche-related terms into Pinterest’s search bar to see suggested keywords. These suggestions indicate what people are actively searching for.
- Tools like Pinterest Trends and Google Keyword Planner can help you discover high-traffic, low-competition keywords.
- Optimize Your Pin Descriptions:
- Use keywords naturally in your pin descriptions. For example, “Discover easy home organization hacks for busy moms” includes the keyword “home organization hacks.”
- Include calls to action (CTAs) such as “Click to read the full tutorial” or “Find more tips on my blog.”
- Optimize Your Boards:
- Create boards based on specific topics within your niche, such as “DIY Crafts for Kids” or “Healthy Weeknight Meals.”
- Use keyword-rich titles and descriptions for each board. For example, a board titled “Quick and Healthy Recipes” might have a description like “Find quick and easy dinner recipes for busy families using healthy ingredients.”
Beginner Tip: Check out what other popular accounts in your niche are doing. Look at their pins, descriptions, and boards for inspiration on how to optimize your content.
Step 5: Grow Your Follower Base
Why it matters:
Having a larger follower base increases your content’s reach and visibility, which is critical for growing traffic and earning money. Pinterest’s algorithm rewards content that has high engagement, so the more people who follow you, repin your content, and engage with it, the more often your pins will show up in the Smart Feed and search results.
Your followers also act as a multiplier for your content. When they repin your pins, their followers see it, and the cycle continues. This boosts your organic reach, helps you gain traction faster, and ultimately leads to higher monetization through traffic, affiliate clicks, or product sales.
Action Steps:
- Join Group Boards & Tailwind Communities:
- Group boards allow you to collaborate with other Pinterest users in your niche. Search for group boards relevant to your niche (you can use PinGroupie) and request to join.
- Join Tailwind Communities (formerly known as Tribes), which allow you to share your pins with like-minded creators and get more repins and followers.
- Pin Consistently:
- Aim to pin 5-10 times per day. Pinterest rewards active accounts that post frequently. Use tools like Tailwind to schedule your pins in advance so you don’t have to be online all the time.
- Engage with Others:
- Follow and engage with other accounts in your niche. Like, comment, and repin their content. Building relationships within your community will lead to more visibility for your own pins.
Beginner Tip: Don’t get discouraged by slow growth at first. Focus on consistently pinning high-quality content, and your follower count will gradually increase.
Step 6: Monetize Your Pinterest Traffic
Why it matters:
At this point, you’ve laid the foundation for a successful Pinterest account, and it’s time to start monetizing. Monetizing your Pinterest traffic is the ultimate goal, and there are multiple ways to do it: affiliate marketing, ad revenue, sponsored content, or selling your own products.
By monetizing, you can turn your traffic into income, whether you’re sending users to affiliate products, selling digital downloads, or running ads on your blog. Each monetization strategy requires careful planning and execution, but Pinterest offers a consistent and long-term traffic source, making it ideal for scaling your income.
Action Steps:
- Affiliate Marketing:
- Sign up for affiliate programs related to your niche (e.g., Amazon Associates, ShareASale).
- Create pins that lead to blog posts or directly to affiliate product pages. For example, if you run a recipe blog, you could promote cooking tools and link to them through an affiliate.
- Ad Revenue:
- If you have a blog, sign up for ad networks like Google AdSense or Mediavine once your traffic hits a certain threshold.
- Create valuable, SEO-optimized blog posts that your Pinterest followers will want to read, and monetize them with ads.
- Sell Your Own Products:
- If you’re in a DIY or crafting niche, consider creating and selling digital products like eBooks, printables, or design templates.
- Use Pinterest to promote these products by creating pins that lead to a landing page or store.
Step 7: Scale Your Pinterest Income
Why it matters:
Once you’re earning consistent money through Pinterest, it’s time to scale. Scaling your Pinterest income involves diversifying your monetization methods and using paid tools, like Pinterest Ads, to increase your traffic even further. You can also build an email list to create a loyal audience that you can market to regularly.
Scaling allows you to go beyond just earning a small income from Pinterest and build it into a reliable, long-term business model.
Action Steps:
- Run Pinterest Ads:
- Set up Pinterest Ads to promote your highest-performing pins. Start with a small budget and test different ad creatives to see what works best.
- Target specific keywords and demographics to ensure your ads reach the right audience.
- Build an Email List:
- Use Pinterest to drive traffic to a landing page where you offer a freebie in exchange for email addresses. For example, you could offer a free eBook, guide, or printable.
- Once you have an email list, you can regularly send out promotions, product recommendations, or affiliate offers.
- Diversify Your Income Streams:
- Don’t rely on just one monetization method. Use a combination of ads, affiliate marketing, sponsored content, and product sales to maximize your revenue.
Conclusion: Your Path to $2,000 in 90 Days
By following these seven steps, you can grow your Pinterest account into a $2,000-a-month income stream in just 90 days. The key is to stay consistent, experiment with different strategies, and optimize your approach over time. Pinterest has immense potential as a traffic generator and income source—it’s time to start pinning, growing, and profiting!
