You are here: Home / Archives for Pinterest

Startups: Social Media Chaos

September 12, 2013 By 5 Comments
Startups: Social Media Chaos

Startups: Social Media Chaos

When you first heard the word “startup,” you thought there’d be maybe a year or two of work, but not about the crazy, crazy chaos that would be involved. Every day the entire wheel has to be reinvented, and nobody is really sure what they should be doing. The social media is a huge, chaotic mess. Then again, there’s strategy. The “strategy” word brings up thoughts of high school chess club, the Civil War, and business plans. But it’s not nearly that bad, I promise.

Brain Dump

Start out by writing down all the things you can think of doing. Consider organizing those items into categories. These can be very large items. They might be by platform. For instance, “Come up with 12 board names for Pinterest.” Or “Create Facebook posts and images to go with them.”  Can you feel your blood pressure going down as you do this?

Choose a Starting Point

If you’re the social media manager, then you’ll have to do it all, so consider picking a starting point. What is the most important platform for your audience? Start there. If you’re not very social media savvy, LinkedIn is the one that many people feel most comfortable using. Many people also feel comfortable on Facebook, since they use it to connect with friends. Once you have worked that first platform into your schedule, move onto the next one.

Set Aside Time in Your Schedule

For instance, I like to start my day on Twitter. I like to be online tweeting and engaging by 8 am. You might prefer later in the day. And you don’t have to read a bunch of studies ~ to be successful, come up with your own schedule! Your chances of success will be much higher if you balance your own rhythms with your work.

Drowning

Feel Like You're Drowning?

Feel Like You’re Drowning?

You may have the feeling that you are drowning in too many unmanageable expectations. People may be giving you contradictory instructions, or your team may not give you any hint at what they really want. In that case, you will need to come up with your own expectations and what is reasonable for you.

Have You Emerged from Chaos?

If you’re trying to start a new brand’s social media, I’d love to hear how you handled the pressure!

 

 

 

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Startups: Social Media Graveyards

September 10, 2013 By 2 Comments
Feel like you're getting left behind?

Feel like you’re getting left behind?

Your startup got a running leap at social media, pinning three million pictures of dogs wearing costumes. The Twitter was active for exactly nine days. Facebook went dormant after the intern left for vacation and never returned from Vegas. Uh-oh. Is your startup’s social media turning into a graveyard of dead platforms, populated by the ghosts of dogs in funny outfits?

Best Intentions

Maybe you had all the best intentions of getting onto social media. You wanted to keep up with the other Startup Joneses to drive business. So starting everything at once seemed like a good idea at the time!

There’s no “There” There

Now everything has turned dark and sad. Without an actual person to consider strategy, post, and interact, nothing is happening on your social media. People click on the badges, and see tumbleweeds, and hear the sound of one sad crow whistling out of the side of his beak. Wait. Is that even a thing? Never mind! We’re painting a sad, sad picture: stay with me here! Would you blame the person for wondering if your startup is viable?

Answers

Social media populated by dogs wearing costumes?

Social media populated by dogs wearing costumes?

If you start your social media, realize that it’s going to take some time. You’ll need a full-time person who’ll set strategy and create content. That person needs to dedicate time every day to keep all the platforms running, and to engage online.

Where Will You Find Such a Person?

Try reading interesting blog articles about this issue. Have you read any good posts on the subject lately? If the person’s style matches your brand, that could be a good fit. Ask friends for recommendations. You want someone reliable, with good writing skills, who can listen and engage online.

To Sum Up

Don’t let your platforms grow up to be tombstones. There are enough ghosts on Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook already.

How is the State of Your Social Media?

Is your Pinterest pining for the fjords? Does your Twitter lack tweets? Does Your Facebook need a facelift? Tell me a sad story in the comments below! Thanks!

 

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Rebranding for Startups

September 5, 2013 By 2 Comments
Rebranding for Startups

Rebranding for Startups

You might have read about some of the issues that can affect startups. As a social media manager, rebranding will probably affect you more than any other issue. Suddenly, your team has decided to rebrand. Where does that leave you?

Different Messaging

If you think of your brand as a cake, then your social media platforms are your ingredients. Every image on Pinterest, every tweet on Twitter, and every Facebook post are affected by your branding. As the social media manager, you are the baker who now has to create a new recipe. So where do you start? What questions should your team be asking?

Meet with the Branding People

Ask those responsible for the rebranding to give you a few words that will represent the new brand. To continue with the cake analogy, what was once chocolate may now be lemon chiffon. Your old words were “thick,” “fudgy,” and “goodness.” Your new words are “light,” “fluffy,” and “luxurious.” Each new ingredient in your cake will have to match those words.

Work Closely with the Branding Team

Rebranding Changes Can Be Far-Reaching

Rebranding Changes Can Be Far-Reaching

As the baker of this new creation of lemony goodness, your job is to work closely with the branding team. If you don’t, your consumers will go elsewhere for their baked edibles. Your kitchen will get a bad rep.

When your brand was Cutesy Wootsy’s Handcrafted Cakey Beauties you’d say things like “Hewwo! A widdle birdie sat on my shoulder and sang me a widdle dittie, which inspired this cutesy-wootsy wecipe for a magical gumdrop babycakes.” After the rebranding to Duchess Throckmorton von Chandelier’s Exquisite Pastries for the Discerning Palate, that sentence might read, “Good Evening mesdames et messieurs, your humble servant requests the pleasure of your company at the unveiling of a sugar-infused feast for the senses. Kindly collect in the anteroom anon, for a tasting.” Hopefully, these examples were not too subtle.

Changes Can Be Far-Reaching

Now that you know how much work you have ahead of you, you’re going to need some of Duchess von Chandelier’s lemony chiffon cake, for real. You might be surprised at the sheer complexity and number of elements involved in all your social media platforms. For instance, does the Facebook page banner match the new brand? What about the background on your Twitter page? What happens to all your followers when there’s a sudden change? How or when will you announce the change? How will you migrate? How will you know if your rebranding has been successful?

What Rebranding Have You Had to Do?

Have you been on a startup team that had to rebrand? What advice would you have for others?

 

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Pinterest Group Boards: Pros and Cons

August 6, 2013 By 5 Comments
Pinterest Group Boards: Pros and Cons

Pinterest Group Boards: Pros and Cons

If you’ve been on Pinterest for any length of time, then you’ve been invited to participate in a group board. A group board is easily created by having two or more people able to pin on a single board. For some businesses, a group board is a wonderful idea. For others, a group board can quickly become an out-of-control party, akin to spending a long weekend in Vegas with alcoholics.

First, the Pros

Pro: A Place for Friends to Gather

Pinterest Group Boards: Pros and Cons

Pinterest Group Boards: Pros and Cons

A group board can be a place for friends to share things that they find entertaining, educational, or funny. For instance, your group of knitters might like to share “yarn bombs,” those funny knitted thing-a-mabobbers that have been popping up all over the place! Finally a place to share those images, right?

Pro: More Eyes on Your Product

For a brand or startup, a shared board can mean more sales. For instance, if you sell iPhone apps, you might consider finding and then asking to join a large group board, and then regularly pinning to that board. More eyes on your product means more repins, likes and comments, and potentially more business.

Pro: More Overall Likes

Another pro is that when someone likes your group board, you’ll probably get more followers. If you’re a brand, in particular, I recommend having a group board and inviting others in your circle to pin to it. When people find your group board, chances are they’ll also find you and that may cause more people to find your brand.

Cons

Now for the downside of group boards.

Con: Spammy Pinning

I’ve seen some group boards taken over by spammers while the group owner does nothing. And I’ve left those group boards because what they said they were didn’t jive with what they became. By the way, here are a few ways to avoid newbie mistakes on Pinterest.

Con: You Don’t “Own” New Follows

The person who starts the group board gets to count the new follows on their account. So if you’re trying to get new followers, that might bother you. In that case, you can start your own group board!

Con: You Can’t Control the Board Cover

On boards you own, you can create a pleasing tableau by matching the themes of the board covers, which you can’t do if you didn’t create a board.

What Do You Like or Dislike About Group Boards?

I’d love to hear from you!

 

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Pinterest: Tips for Startups

July 25, 2013 By 5 Comments
Pinterest Tips for Startups

Pinterest Tips for Startups

You’ve been using Pinterest for your startup for awhile now, but aren’t quite sure what to do. You pin sporadically, but have no strategy yet. Your new intern is already complaining about doing too much! What to do? Let’s say you’re a high-tech startup, as an example.

Branding

If you already know what your company stands for, you’re way ahead of the game. Make sure the entire team is talking to one another and ensure that you give the person doing the social media a very high overview of your brand and what it stands for. Is your brand down-to-earth? Techie? Do you specialize in video for the startup market? What words describe your brand? Your social media manager needs to have that list of words. You might also want to avoid a few newbie mistakes.

Consider Your Audience

Although everyone at your startup may be technical, your audience probably does not have the same level of expertise and know-how that the average engineer does. If you don’t know who your audience is, consider modeling yourself after a competitor. Ask yourself what they’re doing right, and also what they aren’t doing that you could do on Pinterest. Keep it simple.

Make Ten Boards

Use some of the branding words to design your boards. Ten is a good number to start with, so this process isn’t overwhelming. You can add more later, as you come across content that doesn’t fit neatly into any of your categories. For example: “Apps,” “3D Printing,” “Ted Talks,” “Movers and Shakers,” etc.

Have a “Bait Board”

Create a "Bait Board"

Create a “Bait Board”

This is a silly board–I don’t know what else to call it. It could be high-tech dog beds, or funny race cars, but something that humanizes you as a brand. Mine is called “Kittehs.” It is extremely silly, as you might imagine. Pick something like “Dogs at work,” or “Big Cats.”

Create a Schedule

Before you start madly pinning, create an editorial calendar. So for example, you may want to pin 5 pins twice a week about your field. If you’re a 3D Printing Startup, that might mean pinning 5 pins about 3D printing on Tuesday and Thursday. Keep it manageable because it will take some time. You don’t have to go crazy with pinning every day. The important thing is to be consistent and not make the intern crazy!

Start Following

Follow a few pinners whose pins resonate with you, and whose businesses might not be in direct competition. And if you decide you don’t like what they’re pinning for whatever reason, you can unfollow those pinners later.

What Has Helped Your Startup on Pinterest?

Do you have any ideas you’d be willing to share? Please leave a comment! Thanks!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

When Social Media Isn’t

July 23, 2013 By 11 Comments
When Social Media Isn't

When Social Media Isn’t

I’ve been saying this until I’m nearly blue in the face: you have to be social on social media to succeed. People are still doing feeds from Facebook, saying that they get no clients from Twitter (because they only have a feed from Facebook), and doing everything they can to make social media easier for themselves. Social media requires some  work if you want to do it right. Here are some worst practices!

Broadcasting

What can I say about broadcasting that hasn’t already been said? People want conversation and engagement. So listen, chat, be friendly, and inclusive. Reach out to newbies and be generous first.

Reckless Retweeting

Retweeting  conversations between other people, retweeting a whole list of people when you’re having a conversation with just one person on the list, and retweeting Friday Follows with no reason given to follow all come across as lazy.

Bad Auto-DMs

On Twitter, good Auto Direct Messages are a rare breed. The majority of auto-DMs are, at best, boring and at worst spammy.

Whining on Facebook

Having a negative attitude on Facebook won’t generally make people want to engage more with you. Don’t tell people how stupid Facebook is on Facebook. If you hate Facebook that much, don’t use it. But if you hate it and still insist on using it, for God’s sake, shut up about it (you know who you are!). I can say this, because I know you’re not reading this right now, you Facebook hater, you.

Oversharing

Are you anti-social on social media?

Are you anti-social on social media?

Do you have people who’ve begged you not to post pictures of them on Facebook, and yet you continue to post and tag them? Hint: you’re not Ansel Adams! Respect your friends’ wishes, and don’t overshare or stalk, and tag responsibly. Remember, friends don’t let friends tag unflattering photos.

Using Personal Facebook Page as  Business Page

Occasional spillover isn’t so annoying, but your friends expect to see more personal posts on your personal page. There are many benefits to having a business page for your business!

Alienating Your Audience

Recently a friend sent me a tweet from a brand saying that “The likelihood that I will unfollow you on Instagram once you have a baby is about 97%”.  Maybe someone thinks this is “disruptive” but it just seems antagonistic.

Giving Twitter Shoutouts to Those You Don’t Follow

When you give shoutouts listing people to follow, yet you don’t follow any of them, this is inexplicable.

Repinning Every Pin

Have you experienced this? Someone repins every single thing you pin, yet doesn’t follow you. That, my friends, is stealing someone’s Pinterest soul. If you like my pins that much, follow me!

Do You Practice Social Media or Anti-Social Media?

Certainly you’ve seen some anti-social media practices. Which ones really get your three billy goats gruff?

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Pinterest: 6 Reasons I’m Not Following You

July 16, 2013 By 15 Comments
Why I'm Not Following You on Pinterest

Why I’m Not Following You on Pinterest

You’re following a million people a day on Pinterest in the hopes that a few of them will follow you back. However, some of your practices make me instantly not want to follow you. Here are a few!

You Don’t Consider Your Audience

If you have women as part of your audience, consider not pinning images that are demeaning to women. And if you are trying to gain business from Pinterest, that goes triple for you. You might not get reported for porn, but you certainly won’t get followed, even if 99% of your pins are of good quality. Considering your niche and what they want to see should be part of your pinning strategy.

You Pin Too Much

Even if I like your pins, if my entire stream is filled with stuff from you, I might decide not to follow. While one or two Hello Kitty products are ok, seeing 100 of them all at once will probably make me want to unfollow. However, a thousand of them would be the best thing ever! (Joking!)

Subject Matter Doesn’t Interest Me

If you only pin ballet shoes, snow removal equipment, or feather dusters, I probably won’t follow you. But if you make those subjects interesting, I might follow you after all. Having a sense of humor about a subject matter that’s dry would probably make me admire you for the creative effort.

Too Many Boards with One Pin Each

Two Cats

If you have 150 boards with only one pin on each, that looks like you’re a newbie, or worse, a spammer. Fewer boards with more content on each board looks better. For one thing, your followers won’t have to scroll as much.

You Steal Content

If you steal content and claim it as your own, I’ll definitely unfollow you. Right after asking you to remove those pins, that is. Nobody likes a thief.

No Pins, No Followers, and No Boards

If there is nothing on your account, I won’t follow you. How will anyone know what to expect if there’s nothing there? There has to be some “there there!” Here are some ideas on how to unfollow on Pinterest.

What Makes You Unfollow?

Did I leave anything out? Please let me know in the comments! Thanks!

 

 

 

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: , , , ,

Pinterest: 5 Annoying Things

June 27, 2013 By 16 Comments
What Would Help Improve Pinterest?

What Would Help Improve Pinterest?

Many of you love Pinterest as much as I do. You spend hours and hours there, so you may have discovered some things that really bother you about Pinterest. If you’re a newbie on Pinterest, maybe these things don’t bother you. But for those of you who are past being beginners, here are a few changes that I’d love to see in their next release.

Messaging

Wouldn’t it be great to have a messaging system? I’d love to be able to say to someone “I love everything about this board!” Or “Your entire Pinterest account really inspires me!” But there is no way to do that. Leaving a comment on a particular pin, even with a tag for the owner of the account, seems  inadequate. Right now, you get an email if someone has @ messaged you, but it’s easy to miss , given the volume of mail most people get.

Deleting Multiple Pins

Deleting pins is a headache. I like to go through and delete pins that no one has liked or repinned and it takes FOREVER! You have to go to the board, scroll, scroll, scroll, then click three times in order to delete one pin. Why? I’d love to be able to  select a bunch of pins and then delete them all at once. Could we have a way to do this, please?

Unfollowing

I’d  like to know easily who’s not following me so I can decide if I want to continue following them. There are some workarounds, and there’s an app that lets you unfollow, but in general unfollowing on Pinterest is not easy.

Pinning a Board Cover

Pinning a Board Cover Takes Forever

Pinning a Board Cover Takes Forever

Right now, you have to click through many pins to get to the one pin you want to choose as a cover for a board. There has to be an easier way! Doesn’t there?

Seeing Boards I Follow Versus Pinners

I’d love to be able to see whose boards I follow (versus entire accounts). Sometimes I only follow one or two boards, and not everything by a pinner. There are ways to unfollow boards, but it’s clunky.

What’s On Your Wishlist?

Are there things you’d like to see in the next version of Pinterest? Would you like to see any of the changes above? Please let me know in the comments!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Pinterest: Five Ways to Prettier Boards

June 20, 2013 By 2 Comments
Five Ways to Prettier Boards

Five Ways to Prettier Boards

If you’ve been on Pinterest for a little while, you might be interested in finding some ways to go beyond being a newbie. You’re pinning like crazy, but still only have a few followers, and plus, you just feel like the entire experience could be, well, better. Here are some ideas that have worked for me. My main rule is I want my boards to be beautiful–because Pinterest is a visual medium! Engagement on Pinterest is another issue, for another day.

Pick a Color

Occasionally, I like to change the board covers on my Pinterest account. So I’ll pick a color (right now it’s red). I’ll go through each board and try to pick a cover with some red in it to give the entire account a unified color theme. If there isn’t a red pin on a particular board, I’ll search for one, and then make it the board cover.

Use Seasonal Colors

Sometimes, using seasonal colors can be fun. For example, in the spring, I’ll choose more pastels and neutral colors (think Easter egg colors). In the fall, I’ll pick fall colors, such as deep burnt oranges, mahogany, and copper. Think about the leaves as they change colors. In the winter, snowy whites are perfect, and for summer, greens and blues–the colors of the ocean and pools and summer vacation!

Use Black and White

Sometimes I like to have no color at all. That is, board covers that are all black and white. Or they might be mostly white. You could make all of your boards one color to emphasize one spot on one board. Or you could choose all black boards except for the one board you want to emphasize. Have some fun with it!

Black and White and a Spot of Color

zen smallPick a theme to unify your Pinterest boards

Pick a theme to unify your Pinterest boards

Another, similar theme to not picking a color, is to have all black and white covers with just a tiny dot of color. This highlights a tiny spot on each cover, and can be quite stunning.

Pick a Theme

Is there something that you can choose that’s a visual theme, other than color? One example is to go for an uncluttered look. Choose a word, such as “serenity,” for example. Could you find pictures that embodies the Serenity theme across all your boards? This kind of theme would work really well for a business such as a yoga studio or a spa. Is there a word that describes your business?

Do Any of These Ideas Appeal to You?

If you’ve tried any other ideas, I’d love to hear from you!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: , , , ,

Pinterest: Five Newbie Mistakes You’re Making

June 13, 2013 By 11 Comments
Pinterest: Five Newbie Mistakes You're Making

Pinterest: Five Newbie Mistakes You’re Making

Since Pinterest showed up on the social media scene, people have been flocking to it like ducks to water, or maybe like addicts to a new video game. People who weren’t that visual became more visual, and those who didn’t know they were visual, are suddenly spending hours on this visual site. So what are a few things to avoid and what should you be doing to have fun for yourself or your brand on Pinterest? Here are some simple fixes to common errors.

Keeping Default Boards

Fix: decide on the boards you really want. Say you are a small business selling hand knitted leg warmers and other trendy items for chihuahuas. You might want to create boards such as Tiny Dogs, SPCA, Local Doggy Events, and of course a board for your own homemade doggy outfits. You might also want to create boards for different types of outfits, such as hats, vests, paw warmers, etc. Keep in mind that you can change the names of boards later if you like. To change the board name, click on the board, go to “Edit Board” –>Title (don’t forget to save your changes!).

Ugly Board Covers

Fix: Make Each Board Beautiful! To entice people to see the contents of a board, pin the most visually beautiful cover you can. To change a board cover, simply hover with your mouse over the board. Click on “Edit Board Cover” to choose a photo. You can position the photo if you like, at this point. Then click “Set Cover.”

Following Nobody

Choose the Best Covers for Your Boards

Choose the Best Covers for Your Boards

Fix: Follow people you already know or whose pins you enjoy. Although unfollowing people who don’t follow you isn’t easy, you can unfollow people later. Note: like other forms of social media, there is spam out there! So beware of people who have 40 boards with just one photo on each board, or who don’t appear to be real people, or who only sell things like wrist watches.

Not Commenting

Like other forms of social media, Pinterest is social. So “like,” repin, and especially comment on others’ pins! People will appreciate you, and they will be more likely to reciprocate!

Not Having Your Business Name in Your Profile

Fix: Along with your business name and logo, you might want to include a few things about you. A photo of you or a logo also legitimizes your account. People want to know a little about you! To make changes, click “Edit Profile.” You can use the First Name line for your business name. Don’t forget to click “Save Profile” when you’re done. Note: Pinterest has recently partnered with brands to add information to pins, which is very useful for brands.

Not Pinning on Sundays

Fix: Take Saturday off and pin on Sundays! Sundays are the busiest days on Pinterest. So even just pinning a few pins will really help you with traffic and getting more eyes on your content.

What Have You Learned About Pinterest?

Have you changed your strategy along the way with Pinterest? What has helped you the most? Please leave a comment below! Thank you!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
« Previous Page
Next Page »
Visit Us On TwitterVisit Us On FacebookVisit Us On PinterestVisit Us On YoutubeVisit Us On LinkedinCheck Our Feed