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Julie L. Cleveland

Pros and Cons of Pinterest for Business

12/27/2022

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Image by Shahid Abdullah from Pixabay
If you're running a business, then you know how important word-of- mouth advertising is to your bottom line. This is particularly true when your business is online. Unless your business is very new, you
're probably already sharing on social media

While not a social media site, Pinterest is an integral part of online ecommerce. In 2010, this new site gave the public a place to pin (as in bulletin board) their favorite ideas, photos and content as a visual idea board.

Creatives will recognize this as an inspiration/design board and wedding planners may have been the first to really grasp the concept. Once people realized they could visualize their ideas, Pinterest took off. 

As a jewelry designer and bead maker, I was on board from the beginning. Pinterest has made some changes over the years, but for the most part, pinning still offers artists and online sellers a great place to show off their wares. 

Here are some pros and cons that I have found over the years:

Pros
  • 433 million global users a month;
  • Qualified audience with an average income of $75,000;
  • The search engine is accurate without any "suggestions" from the site;
  • Conversions are higher;
  • Marketing budget can be almost zero;
  • Photographers and graphic designers can set up a samples board for clients;
  • Private boards can be set up for clients where ideas can be worked out;
  • All boards are public, so everyone has a chance to see your content;
  • You can add a link to your photo driving traffic to your site;
  • Users find it to be a positive site without negative images or advertising;
  • Posts have a longer life-span around 4 months; 
  • It is a great source of inspiration and mood for artists and designers.

Cons
  • It takes a while for a post to gain traction;
  • It can be very niche oriented, which is good if you have a niche;
  • You need to constantly share in order to get traffic;
  • Images can be shared without the link to your site;
  • Images can be stolen and uncredited later;
  • Design ideas can be copied without your knowledge;
  • There are specific image requirements such as size and dimensions;
  • It can be time consuming to post several times a day;
  • Scheduling software can be expensive.

I know that Pinterest drives a lot of traffic to my site, but it's also very easy to get into trouble with the site. They only want certain content, products and information on their site, so it can be tough to get your site okayed.

I've run afoul of their requirements by having the same "About Me" across the internet. I've been selling online since 1996, so yeah, it can be a duplicate. If they send you a rejection, just comply, as they are a great source of traffic and sales. 

If you need a site, then check out Shopify. They have a free trial.



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With Shopify, there is an addon that will do scheduling for you. I use Outfy to run all of my product posts. If you need help, you can hire a freelancer to do things for you. 
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Should I Close My Store for the Holidays?

12/13/2022

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The holidays are just upon us, and every year I wrestle with the conflict between “should I keep my store open, or should I close it and take some time off?”. The last few years I have been faced with a mountain of paperwork that needed to be done at the end of the year, and I have had an office/studio/bedroom that looked like a herd of wildebeest had run through it.

Veteran sellers always said they took the time off at the holidays because they had worked so hard. That was back in the day when eBay was hot and they were selling collectibles. Those times have changed, and now everyone scrambles for every dollar they can get since online sales are not the least bit reliable.

Let’s look at the Pros and Cons of keeping your store open:
 
Pros
  • More income as people spend holiday money
  • The chance to get rid of more inventory
  • Clearance and holiday sales to spur buying
  • People are home during the holidays
  • Post-Christmas shopping

 Cons
  • You have to work during the holidays
  • People expect things delivered quickly
  • No time to spend with family
  • Gambling the income will be worth it

Personally, I prefer to take the time off and work towards making up the income difference along the next year. I am less stressed, and it gives me a chance to breakdown my art studio, clean and reorganize. I throw things to the side when I am packaging orders one right after the other, so it’s a real mess by the time I shut down. I do the same thing with my bookkeeping, too.

This year, I am shutting down the second week of December. This helps me avoid the stress of people asking where their package is and will it get to them by Christmas.

In the meantime, during my holiday, I am going to catch up on some of my reading!

Happy Holidays!
Julie
PS - Here are a few things on my reading list this year:


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    Author

    I am a manic writer who has to write all the time about something, even if it is a detailed 'To Do' list. 

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