Pinterest has been around for quite a while, and most people know to use it when they need ideas for anything from custom furniture to building a home or designing clothing. The platform has become the go-to place for anyone in need of inspiration.
What most people don’t know is the fact that you can earn quite a bit of money using Pinterest. You just have to be smart about it. There are several ways in which you can make some extra cash on this platform. For example, you can work as a Pinterest virtual assistant. However, what happens when and if you need more money? The answer is below.
While earning a few bucks on Pinterest isn’t too difficult, when you want to turn it into a business, you will have to work harder and pay a lot of attention to details.
There is a limited number of people who have managed to successfully create a new type of business, becoming Pinterest consultants. The great thing about doing this is the fact that this line of work doesn’t really seem like work. You basically get paid to do something that you may already be doing; spending time on this platform.
Before moving forward, you must understand the fact that this is a job like any other. While it does have some perks, you will be required to work each day and to continually look for new ways to grow your business. You will be, for all intents and purposes, an entrepreneur, and you will have to act like one. Learn whatever you can from whoever you can and always think about the long term. This will enable you to make a living out of this for many years to come.
- Learn and gain experience
As with any other field of work, you must first learn and understand how the business and the environment work, before being able to earn money. Spend time looking at how Pinterest works, and at how people use it. In order to work as a consultant, you will have to study the habits of the platform’s users, and understand how to analyze and manipulate trends.
A good place to start is to look at your behavior on Pinterest. Think about what catches your eye, and why some things make you actually click on them and explore the website. Then, think about how these things apply to other people, and if they don’t, try to understand their preferences. You basically have to understand how users think, and what type of content they want.
Pinterest is more than a simple visual search engine; it is a fully fledged social network where people looking for inspiration go to in order to get new ideas. Keep in mind that you already may be one step in front of the competition due to the fact that you already use the platform. The insight from the user’s perspective is invaluable in becoming a successful consultant, as it will help you gain a better understanding of the market.
The next thing that you will have to do is understand how this knowledge of Pinterest could actually benefit your business. You must understand that Pinterest is a great tool for those looking to generate traffic, and can be extremely effective when it comes to capturing leads. The platform can also be used in order to sell products, regardless of the fact that they are physical or digital.
Another use of Pinterest would be to boost brand awareness and to raise engagement. This having been said, there are a lot of uses for the platform, and many reasons why people would need a professional to help them use it in order to better develop their brands.
Now you will have to look at what works on Pinterest and what doesn’t. People use a variety of strategies, and some are more efficient than others. If you are to be a successful consultant, then you will have to give people useful advice.
Analyze the different algorithms that businesses are using on Pinterest and learn how to exploit them. Learn their practices and understand what makes those accounts popular. Also, keep in mind that there is no sure recipe for success. Different brands may require different strategies in order to be successful, so it’s a good idea to create a large arsenal of practices and algorithms.
As a word of caution, never forget the fact that Pinterest, like any other platform, changes every once in a while, as do the users. This means that you will have to continuously change your methods in order to keep up with the competition and any trends that may appear.
Once you have a general idea of what some brands are doing in order to make people love their accounts, you can use your own account in order to experiment for a while. In the best case scenario, you will become more popular, and in the worst case one, you will have to start over. Either way, you will gain a lot of experience.
Another great way to get some more experience is to ask your friends if they are willing to hire you in order to administer their Pinterest accounts. The more accounts, the more strategies you will be able to use. However, please note the fact that this doesn’t mean that you can do a poor job. Taking care of these accounts means that you have a chance to show how much you’ve learned and to gain more experience; they are not free guinea pigs. Also, don’t take on too many accounts or you may quickly find yourself overwhelmed.
- Build your authority
Once you learn how things work on Pinterest and have a bit of experience, you will have to use this knowledge in order to build authority. In other words, people must see you as an expert and trust your opinion, or they won’t see any value in hiring you.
There are several ways to approach this issue, but the simplest and most direct one is to write a comprehensive how-to guide. You can write it as one piece of content, or separate it into several articles. Regardless of your choice, find a way to show people that you know what you are talking about and that you mean business. Do this and they will ask for your help.
If you’re worried about what to include in the article(s), you can start by writing everything that you know about the platform, and about your experience in using it in order to develop brands and other businesses. Also let people know about the best practices that you’ve seen on Pinterest, as well as how to put them into action.
Don’t forget to also share examples of the strategies that you write about, as well as case studies in which to show their results. People need to see results in order to understand the full course of a Pinterest campaign.
Now, let’s summarize some of the tips that will help you write a great guide:
- Write what you know about the platform;
- Include your insights as both a specialist, as well as a regular user;
- Write about various strategies that you know work;
- Provide case studies, results and analytics in order to demonstrate that your advice is useful;
Writing this guide will not only establish your authority but also help you organize your stuff. While you write it, you will gain a better understanding of the lessons that you’ve learned.
Some may feel that through this guide, they will essentially give everything away for free, however, this is not the case. While the information that you include will definitely help people, every brand and business has different target audiences and different requirements, so people will ask you for your help. In the end, you will see that this move will be a perfect catalyst for success.
The fact that some people will only take the information that you give them, use it, and never return, is undeniable, but the number of these people will be fairly low. Most people will actually share your content and this will increase your popularity tremendously. Within a short period of time, you will have amassed an army of loyal fans that will look to you for advice whenever they need it, and most important, they will recommend you to others.
Some of the people who read your guide may not have time to implement the needed changes on their own and will want to hire you in order to handle their Pinterest account. These are the people that you are interested in. They are essentially paying customers, and you need as many of them as you can.
Another way to build authority is to guest post on other websites. This will allow you to tap into their audiences and establish yourself as an expert on various topics. Look for threads related to your expertise on blogs, websites like Quora, and social networks such as Facebook or Reddit. Don’t forget to link to your own content whenever you have the option (and it is relevant to the situation).
- Get your first client and start doing business
The most difficult part is getting your first client, however, once you reach this milestone, things get considerably easier, provided that you do a good job. It is important to let as many people as possible know that you are offering your services. If nobody knows that you exist and offer your expertise, they won’t look for you or your help. So start working on a campaign to popularize your business, or you will never be successful on Pinterest.
A tried and tested method is to add a paragraph stating that you offer Pinterest business consulting services at the end of your guide. People who read it and discover that they lack the time required to make the needed changes will take you up on your offer the minute that they see it. You could alternatively post on Facebook and other social networks, and on freelancing websites and other great online marketplaces. You basically have to place an ad wherever you can.
Now let’s talk about how much you should charge. Most freelancers have great difficulties with putting a price on their abilities, and the fact that Pinterest consulting businesses aren’t too frequent can leave them without any kind of reference system.
Unfortunately, you will have to come up with your own price, however, it is usually better to keep your fees low when starting your business. You will be able to charge more money as you become better known and have more clients and experience.
As a final piece of advice, do not forget to also ask your friends and family for help. Word of mouth can be effective too, and you should use every possibility that you have at your disposal. Also, if anyone close to you is interested in hiring you, you can offer them a discount as an incentive. These opportunities will generate others, and will also help you get positive feedback and testimonials.
After you manage to get your first client, things will become easier, but this does not mean that you won’t have to work just as hard. More clients will mean more stress generated by the fact that you have to deliver on your promises and longer work hours.
- Find your second and third clients
Once you have your first satisfied Pinterest client, there is a high chance that he will refer you to others who could benefit from your services. This will enable you to have a steady flow of new customers who will not only pay you but also give you important feedback and testimonials.
While online networking is an extremely useful tool, you will also have to use other means if you want to be truly successful. For example, spend time doing some in-person networking and also be active in any Pinterest-related Facebook groups. Doing this will allow you to expand your reach and further increase the number of clients.
This having been said, keep in mind that you will always be successful, as long as you produce quality content and keep your clients happy you will always have people looking to hire you and your popularity will grow. If you ever have a problem and fail to fulfill your contract, it won’t be the end of the world. While you can recover from these situations, it would be best to keep them to a minimum as they will have a negative impact on your reputation.
Other than this, don’t forget to let satisfied clients know that you are actively looking for new clients, and ask them to refer you to people if they can. Most of the times, people will simply move on after your contract ends.
- Expand your offer
A common mistake that freelancers in this line of work tend to make is refuse clients who are not willing to pay the fixed monthly fee. While it is true that you should be firm and hold your ground when someone tries to get you to work for less money, it is important to understand that as a beginner, you will have to get be as flexible as you can.
Nobody is saying that you should work for a few bucks. Instead, try creating multiple service options, so that people who have lower budget can hire you, even though that they won’t get the full package.
Create options for potential clients and you will be successful. While there isn’t a perfect number of packages, you should choose a rate for the full service, and then create new ones by subtracting both money, as well as things that you are willing to do.
Consider the fact that not everyone wants all the aspects of their Pinterest account managed. Some may only want your help for a small job, like creating a few pins for a project, while others may only need a bit of advice regarding how to personalize their account. Then again, others may not even require you to manage their account, but to train them in order to do the optimizations on their own.
In order to cater to the needs of these clients, you will also have to consider creating a Skype consultation package.
You won’t always have to do this, but for the first few months, it’s the best strategy. This will enable you to monetize all of your work hours, and once you have higher paying clients, you will be able to let go of those who pay lower rates.
Don’t lower your rates. Instead, look for ways to adapt to the needs of your clients so that you get the most out of your time, and they get the most out of their available money.
- Promote as much as humanly possible
You shouldn’t stop marketing your business after you have your fill of high paying clients. Working as a freelancer implies the fact that you will have to continuously work in order to make yourself known in your industry.
The clients that you have at the moment can drop out of the contract at any time and leave you with free time and no way to monetize it. In other words, you should always have a lot of people on your waiting list, and others that are trying to get on it.
Now, this business isn’t your main source of income, you can skip this step, but if you choose to do it, it won’t hurt.
Make a list of people who want to hire you and keep it for rainy days. When one of your clients cancels the agreement, contact one of the people on the list and ask them if they are still interested in hiring you. If you get a negative answer, then move to the next one, rinse and repeat.
While you are doing this, also keep promoting your website and your brand. The internet moves extremely fast and if you stop, your name and your services will fade away.
How much you could earn as a Freelance Pinterest Consultant
The amount of money that you can make will change over the course of time and can be influenced by several things.
First of all, you will have to accept that you won’t earn a whole lot when you’re just beginning. The usual rate for someone who is building a name for themselves and is not yet established is about $10 per hour. In other words, you will earn the same as a normal virtual assistant. It isn’t much, but if you work hard, this number will increase.
Secondly, most of the people that work as Pinterest consultants that charge a monthly rate of $300 for their services, but this depends on the kind of service that they offer. You may have to start from $100 per month (you would only have to work about 3-4 hours per week) and then go up from there, as you make a name for yourself.
As for Skype consultations, the starting price is usually around $50, but you will have to set the prices according to what you are willing to include in your packages. If you follow the tips in this guide, you can easily earn $1500-2000 per month, and this figure will grow with your popularity.
In conclusion, you will have to understand that this is a business. If you are serious about it, work hard, and are professional, then you will be able to expand it and make it more profitable.
So hone your skills, learn as much as you can, and you will be able to make the extra money that you need to go on the trip that you always wanted, or even quit your day job and enjoy a more relaxed lifestyle, earning money by doing the things that you like, not the ones that you have to.
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