You may have thought that Pinterest was just a virtual 
pin board with lots of pretty pictures where artists hawk their wares and moms post recipes. However, what I know is that Pinterest is where even digital dinosaurs (I’m changing my story) late adopters like me can increase traffic to our websites and immediately start to gain traction with search engines.
On Friday, I finished reading Beth Hayden’s new book, Pinfluence: The Complete Guide to Marketing Your Business with Pinterest and I’m suggesting that two groups of psychotherapists need read it, too. For those of you that are pin virgins and those of you who are already pin prophets, too, because yes . . . it really is that good!
The first chapters in Pinfluence are focused on the pin virgins among us i.e. those novices who have yet to check out Pinterest. Beth walks you through setting up an account step-by-step but always with strategies in mind to help you build your business. (As many of you know, Beth specializes in working with psychotherapists and other helping professionals so don’t worry! She’s got lots of strategies in there that fit nicely into our world of mental health!)
And, for those of us who have been pinning for a while and are in need of a “pintervention”, i.e. the pin prophets among us, she doesn’t let us down, either! She includes a chapter on optimizing our websites for pinners, how to attract and keep pinners interested in us, and how to integrate and use Pinterest with other social media tools, too – always with an eye toward building our practices.
My favorite chapter was “Learning by Watching: Tracking Trends and Monitoring Conversations.” Really it’s just about tracking your effectiveness and clout online and how to leverage Pinterest to grow your practice. That chapter alone is worth the price of the book!
For those of you who are a bit reluctant to pick up your own copy of Pinfluence, you should know that Beth says in January of this year, Pinterest was “driving more traffic to websites and blogs than YouTube, Google+, and LinkedIn combined.” And, when I checked Google Analytics on Friday, Pinterest was consistently sending me more business than those as well as Twitter (which used to be the biggest driver to my site), Yahoo, and Facebook! Besides Pinterest really is way more fun!
In true Beth Hayden form, she concludes Pinfluence by addressing the ethical use of Pinterest. And, for those of us who have signed up to make the world a better place, that’s an important read, too!
OK, OK! So you know that I know Beth. Hers were the brains behind my launch into the online world. Along the way we became friends. We have partnered together on more than one occasion to bring you several projects including The Private Practice Online Survival Guide, The Knowledge Market series (yes, yes – we’re bringing those back later this year), as well as a variety of formats for different classes. All of that is my disclaimer . . . that and this statement that I don’t get one penny from the sale of Pinfluence.
However, what I do get is the pleasure of introducing you to is a simple and quick-to-read guide (<200 pages) by adding Pinterest to you arsenal of online tools to let your potential clients know who you are, what you do, and how you can help them improve their lives.
But . . WAIT! There’s more! Beth has decided to share a free Pinterest marketing e-course with each of you who visits her at her new website. And, . . . there’s more! Tomorrow Beth will be joining us to guest post on . . . you guessed it . . . marketing on Pinterest!
It’s called Pinfluence. It’s by Beth Hayden. You’re welcome.
This book is a wonderful recommendation, and I cannot wait to read it! In the meantime, I have been steadily building my pinterest boards to include helpful tips, photos, and inspirational quotes. Your post inspired me this morning to take these boards to a whole new level, and to create “kits.” My first is a “Calming Kit” which features tools and tips for stress management, mindfulness, etc. I thought you might appreciate this, as a fellow Pinteresting therapist. 😉 (http://pinterest.com/korkalot/calming-kit/)
Oh, oh, OH! Courtney! I’m so heading over there to check out those kits! Wish I had thought of that! GREAT IDEA!!!! Who knows, perhaps you’ll be writing the sequel!
Tamara,
I’ve been shying away from social media because of the concern about things like getting fired because of a comment that SOMEONE ELSE makes, and wrong impressions that could be very easily spread around the country. I haven’t used Pinterest. Are you telling me that it doesn’t work like that? I don’t have a website yet, but I’m very interested in increasing traffic once I get it. Can I set up an account before I have a website to link to or should I wait?
Hey, Lauren . . . this is something that many of us have struggled with and I want to address it more fully in a blog post. Hope you don’t mind. But, the shorter answer is yes. Pinterest can be useful to you as a way to expand your visibility even without a website. I consider it to be a great place to get your feet wet in social media. Just remember that potential referral sources and clients and everyone else may see your pinboards. Don’t be scared. Just be informed. Pick up Beth’s book so that you can start to use Pinterest strategically. Be cautious but know that you can learn to navigate Pinterest and other social media tools with ethical practices and risk management in place.
You can do this. I’ll be happy to help. And, shhhhh . . . I’m trying to get Beth Hayden to co-host a Knowledge Market with me talking about Pinterest. With the launch of her new book, though, I’m having a difficult time getting on her schedule. Perhaps she needs a little encouragement . . . .
I’m really leery of it. I was at a conference last year and people were even talking about “don’t comment about anything on Amazon because your clients will be asking you about your cookware (Which is apparently what she had commented on… you can get everything on Amazon now).” In spending a couple minutes looking at Pinterest, my reaction was “my gosh, it’s all social comments… doesn’t look very professional.” I’m willing to get the book and reserve final judgment for now. Not making any promises, but I’ll look into it.
Lauren, you can make it as professional as you like. I would certainly recommend starting off with a blog over other forms of social media . . . for many reasons. But, there are certainly therapists as well as other professions who are using Pinterest as a place to curate work-related info and resources, as well as a way to expand your reach out into the community while building your brand.
I hope you’ll check out some of the others’ pin boards and let us know what you think.