August 2022

This post is about learning how to use pinning for affiliate marketing.  I hope this will be interesting and useful to my fellow retirees who may need to add some extra cash to their income. Since I retired, I have had to learn how to live on a much smaller income and getting paid once a month.  It was a difficult change, but I think I have finally gotten used to it.

I am constantly researching ways to make extra cash to help my income go farther.  One of the ways I stumbled upon was affiliate marketing.  It sounds so easy but as I am learning, it is not.  There are many things to learn and put in place before you start making any money, but now that I have gotten all that behind me I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Now, I watch those video about making a ridiculous amount of money without any effort and in a short amount of time, but that’s just ridiculous and I hope no one really falls for that way of thinking.  Any type of income producing activity will, by default require some time and effort on your part and comes with no guarantee that you will ever make a penny.

• Introduction to Affiliate Marketing 

Affiliate marketing has been around for a very long time.  Basically, what it is is “word of mouth” marketing.  You find a product you like and use and you tell your friends about it.  They try it out and you get paid a small amount for sending them to the product.  That’s it in a nutshell.  There are many videos and blog posts on the internet that explain affiliate marketing better, so I will just leave it at this.

• How do you reach people to tell them about your product?

One of the ways that I have been exploring lately is the use of social media to attract people to my offers.  Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, and Pinterest all have built in traffic that you can use to your advantage if you know how to do so.  I have read countless blogs and watched innumerable videos on this topic and I have to tell you that there is a definite learning curve, but the end result is that using social media is an easy way to get started.

Facebook, Instagram, and Tik Tok have introduced stores that you can use to sell your products, but I have not yet tried this method.

Pinterest is a great place to get started with affiliate marketing. With over 300 million active users, there’s definitely a market for your products. You can promote your products through Pinterest by creating pins that focus on promoting your product and by creating boards that focus on a specific topic.

You can also connect with other Pinterest users who are also interested in your product.

Most people already have a Pinterest account, but if not, just go to Pinterest.com and sign up for yours (it’s free!).  You need to decide if you want your account to be for personal use or if you want to make it a business account.  You can decide this later, so for our purpose just get a personal account.  Once that is completed, you are good to go!

• Introduction to Pinterest 

Pinterest is a social media platform that allows users to “pin” images and videos onto a board for later viewing. The site also offers users the ability to share boards with other users. One of the main benefits of pinning for affiliate marketing is that it allows you to share affiliate links with your followers. This means that you can earn commissions on any products that you recommend to your followers.

Another advantage of pinning for affiliate marketing is that it can help you to connect with a wider audience. This is because Pinterest is popular with people who are interested in a wide range of topics. Pinterest is actually a search engine much like Google, but you have to admit it is much prettier than Google.  In the search bar you enter the subject of your pin and see if there are boards you can join or follow so when you make your pin, you will automatically get some attention.

• How Pinterest works as an affiliate marketing platform

When a user pins an image, Pinterest adds a link to the image that can be shared with others. Pinterest also allows users to follow other users and receive updates when they pin or share content.  When a user follows a pin, Pinterest sends an automated message to the user’s followers informing them about the pin and providing a link to the pin. If the user clicks on the link, the user is taken to the page where the pin was pinned.

 

In pinning for affiliate marketing you use images and links to products or services and can be an effective way to promote your business and make sales.  There are, however, some basic guidelines you need to follow.  Pinterest is about “pretty” so first and foremost your pin needs to be visually attractive.  You must make sure that your pin is truthful.  If it is an affiliate link, say so.  You need to set up “boards” on your account to pin your images to.  Then when someone follows your board, they will see your pins.  The more people who see your pins, the more chances you have to make money.

• The different types of pins that can be used for affiliate marketing

There are different ways of pinning for affiliate marketing. Some pins are designed to attract attention, while others are meant to help affiliates promote their products. Some pins are designed to be colorful and eye-catching, while others are more subtle. There are pins for affiliate marketing that feature logos, images, and text.

It’s important for affiliates to choose the right pin for their marketing campaigns.

• Tips for creating successful Pinterest affiliate marketing campaigns

There are a few tips to keep in mind when creating successful pinning for affiliate marketing links.

1. Pin interesting, relevant pins that will help promote your product.

Pinning relevant pins to your product can help increase awareness and encourage buyers to explore your product further.

2. Use keywords in your pins to help promote your products to Pinterest users who are interested in that topic.

By including relevant keywords in your pins, you can help people find and follow your content more easily. Additionally, using keywords can help you rank higher in search results, which can help potential customers find your content more quickly.

3. Use a variety of pins to increase your chances of being found by Pinterest users.

A variety of pins can help you stand out from the crowd and ensure that you’re easily found when you need to be.

4. Make sure your pins are high quality, and that they accurately reflect your product.

Pin quality and accuracy is important if you want to build trust with your audience.

5. Make sure your pins are updated frequently, so that they remain relevant to Pinterest users.

6. Be sure to include a link to your product in your pins.

7. Promote your pins on other social media platforms, as well.

8. Use analytics to track the success of your pins.

9. Keep a positive attitude, and enjoy the process of creating successful Pinterest affiliate links.

• Conclusion

Find yourself one product that you think you would like to tell others about, then sign up with that vendor to be an affiliate of their product.  Once you are approved, make a beautiful pin using whatever editor you want (I use Canva, it’s free) and when you are satisfied, pin it on one of your boards.  Even better, join a Pinterest Group Board that is about affiliate marketing or about your product and pin there.  Talk about built for you traffic!

I hope you try this out and make yourself some extra cash to spend in your retirement.  Follow this link to get the information you need!