Pinterest is my favorite social network for both personal and business reasons. I’m always looking for Pinterest tools that make my job easier. Not only that I’m working with my business partners Paul Wilson and John Benson to develop new tools of our own. Here’s our list of favorite tools Pinterest board.

Here are my top 5 Pinterest tools

1. PinAlerts

PinAlerts are like Google Alerts for Pinterest. You get an email when something from your blog shows up on Pinterest. This is my first Pinterest tool with PinnableBusiness.com and it’s been getting great traction. It was named as a fav tool by Sarah Evans and Website magazine named it their tool of the day. We have many plans for it so this is just the exciting beginning.

2. Quozio

Quozio is an easy-to-use tool for making quotes for Pinterest but also for Facebook, Twitter or even this blog post! I’d love to see them allow you to resize your picture, add a watermark and control the font color and size (even each individual letter). I found out about it from a reader of my blog (which is one reason why I keep blogging). Quotes are huge for Facebook. One quote can be featured in a blog post (which can then be pinned), pinned on Pinterest, and tweeted. I’ve found that people don’t read my contests (or the rules) on Facebook unless I make them visual. When I read an article I’m always looking for the quote. When I get a killer quote it gets a ton of likes, shares and comments on Facebook.

I made this for Mother’s Day:

3. Pinstimatic

Pinstimatic is a versatile tool that creates a pinnable map of your location (great for local SEO optimization). They also have Post It Notes (wish it were easier to add an icon, image or watermark to a note and change its size) and you can do a screenshot of your website or even share music from Spotify. My ideal tool would be to combine Quozio and Pinstimatic. I’ve also tried PinaQuote too but it’s too basic at this stage, even at the pro level (check out this post with examples).

4. PicMonkey

From the founders of Piknic that got bought out by Google comes a tool with more robust features for making and editing images. This is the tool I’ve used least often but this image made in PicMonkey (here’s how) caught my press release loving eye:

5. The Pin It Plugin for WordPress.

This plugin adds a “Pin It” button to posts and pages that will allow readers to easily pin your content at Pinterest. You choose what types of pages the button should appear on and where (above or below content, for example). Several styling options are available and implementation is as simple as pasting a shortcode. The plugin has over 42k downloads and a 5-star rating from every review.

It’s a great plugin but I like this paid Pinterest WordPress plugin better for one reason (I apologize for the cheesy sales page, you can get the developer’s license for $17 so you can use it on all of your blogs). It puts a PinIt button next to all of your images (not just at the top of your post) which encourages more pinning.

UPDATE: I just learned about yet another tool that lets you upload your own images (or use one of theirs) and add quotes. It’s called Pinwords http://www.pinwords.com

Any Pinterest tools you love that I didn’t cover here? Please leave a comment!

I just spent over 40 mins. reading and responding to a blog post about the future of blogging by Glen at ViperChill. Not that I regret it. Glen himself said it was too long. So were my comments about it. My life could waste away reading content. I’m doing it constantly but I also have a husband and kids. Plus the sky is beautiful and I don’t want to get fat.

Glen said it best: You’ll soon learn why writing this post was actually a huge contradiction to everything I’m about to preach.

The post was nostalgic for me but I wish he had divided into smaller posts. You’ll have to get examples from him to illustrate these points. He has a ton of good examples.

6 Tips for small bloggers who want to get bigger:

1. Show more blog posts on your home page.
Pinterest and Facebook show a ton of content that requires no clicking. Instead you can just scroll and scroll. iPads are built the same way but on overdrive. It reduces friction. If you know of any blog themes that have this feature, I’m looking. Just make sure you don’t make your page slower by doing it. Is there a theme that does this?

2. Instead of wasting your time on all the social networks, focus on building loyal passionate followers.
I say launch your business on all of the major platforms and focus on the one that resonates best. For my new blog about Pinterest marketing, PinnableBusiness.com it is our LinkedIn group. We thought it would be Facebook. We have auto-posting there because it never got traction. All the action is on LinkedIn and it has done more for our business than anything else so far besides getting our infographic on Mashable.

3. Build an Email List.
Rather than depending on people finding your content through search or a social network, build an email list and tell people when you publish content. Glen just developed a plugin called Optinskin to help. http://optinskin.com Again, I’m experimenting with email marketing. I’m embarrassed that I haven’t before. I don’t know how to fix my own theme to add it so I have people email me asking how to subscribe. Dumb. With PinnableBusiness we’re building email marketing in from the start. I wish Glen had recommended what he uses to send and test email subject lines. This could be another long post that I’d read.

Email gives us “little guys” a chance to have highly personal interactions with our readers, and that’s an advantage we’ll always have over big media.

I would add that once you build a loyal passionate following I’d be like Copyblogger and create more products rather than try to rely on advertising to monetize your blog.

4. Make your Blog Look Good.
To me this was the weakest part of his argument – I think he’s just saying – don’t be like Steve Pavlina. I’m not going to link to him because I really don’t respect him personally but the design is basic. It reminds me of Joel Comm’s blog. Outdated design. You’ll never grow your tribe if you look like your content is from 1990. You’ll just look old. Plus with Pinterest the web is becoming prettier and I like that. Add to it. For me it would mean adding more images to my posts, so they can be pinned and I can use the LinkWithin plugin I just found to show related posts with thumbnails at the bottom of each post.

5. Customize your Blog (hire a programmer).
Learn from folks like Huffington Post on how to attract and make it easy for your passionate readers to interact. That means hiring a programmer to add features to your blog that aren’t the same standard features. It might be fun like me adding a news ticker with my headlines showing, CNN style. Or it might be another way to add personality or credibility to your blog. For example, if you’re an affiliate marketer you need datafeeds and you need to customize them your product pages are not a copy of everyone else’s. Everyone I know who makes considerable income online does this. It’s also my biggest pain point. Finding and paying programmers to customize your blog is a lot of work. Just trying to articulate and explain what you want is. If you have any recommendations for me I’m listening.

6. Consistently Give your Readers Valuable and New Posts.
People have so many options for getting content that they’re less loyal to a certain blog or publication. Pinterest community doesn’t care who you are, they just want your ideas (and your pretty pictures). People want information or a solution and if you keep giving it to them they’ll come back. My guess is that people get so much more interested in doing things that earn them money and less about writing about it so their blog suffers. But they don’t care. They are off building products, tools or their email lists.

Consistency builds trust with people and search engines. Postsecret is a popular blog that only publishes once a week on Sundays. I read it every single week.

This post is exactly why I don’t blog as often as I used to. I bet very few people actually read to the end anyway. If this were a press release or if I had more time, I’d cut this post in half (and suggest you do the same).

Just like Google, no one knows exactly how Facebook’s algorithm works. But unlike Google where most content gets into the search engine and can be found for years, if no one interacts with your posts on Facebook, they are essentially gone. Once they are off the front page they have essentially disappeared forever. Sure, there’s a chance someone will find and read your old content, but it’s unlikely (get it, unlike -ly?). If someone truly likes you they want to hear from you.

Number of Fans not as Important as Level of Engagement

I’ve seen various figures about what percentage of your Facebook Page fans see your content, but it’s not ever very high. Anything above 10% is pretty good. And the larger your page, the lower the engagement drops.

To find what percentage of engagement your page gets, take the # of likes for your page divided by the number of people “talking about” it. I wish I knew where I got this chart (help, please comment if you know). Once I got my engagement level in the 80% range for a client but I couldn’t maintain it. It’s consistently around 20%. This is why I rarely delete or ignore fans who post frequently. Instead I thank them and respond (unless they are obscene or vulgar). Think about it – controversy sells! Every CEO I’ve worked with wants me to squelch the person who posts something negative. I say most of the time, leave it up! Let your fans come to your rescue. Chime in. Find ways to reward engagement from your fans and ways to build loyalty with them.

Interact with Brands you Like on Facebook

The bottom line is if you want to see content from brands you like, you need to share, like or comment on their posts. Otherwise they won’t show up in your newsfeed and you’ll forget all about them. Same goes for the fans of your Page. If you want to see all the brands you or someone else has liked (which is great for understanding your target market) simply type in your username followed by a slash and then “favorites” like this: https://www.facebook.com/JanetThaeler/favorites Scroll down past interests and you’ll get to all of your likes. I’m not sure why that URL isn’t /likes but not my call.

Go try this on your profile and you’ll see just how many pages you’ve liked but forgot all about. Then go and start interacting so you have a newsfeed full of content from brands and organizations that you really like. It beats having a newsfeed full of drama from your high school friends!

An Effective Way to Get Higher Engagement

What I’ve found most effective (besides large giveaways) for engagement on Facebook and Pinterest (link goes to my Pinterest for Business blog) are quotes that relate to your brand. My client’s page attracted people who want a quick pick me up that will make them feel good and inspire them in their faith. I started out simply typing in a daily quote.  Next I graduated to making quotes into graphics. That really enhanced the numbers of shares, likes and comments.

My best posts have a short question relating to the image and a killer image with a quote. Not too crafty and not too plain. In other words they like quotes that have background images over just text on a colored background. If I keep it short, the quotes also make ideal tweets (I have them tweeted automatically using Hootsuite). Then I use the same quotes in blog posts to get maximum search engine value and I pin the quotes on Pinterest. That’s a lot of bang for my buck!

P.S. I’m always looking for a tool to make quotes where I can add my own image and have choices of fonts and sizes. Let me know if you know of any.

Not All Interactions are Equal

When it comes to Facebook, not all interactions are equal. The share is king because it says you like something so much you’re willing to put your name on it and let your friends know.  These are usually very informative, timely or funny posts. Next important is a comment because that takes more effort than just clicking like (easy). The time of day you post something on Facebook is another factor because then more people will see it. Sound complex for a small business to pull all of this off well? That’s why there’s a rise in social media experts. It’s a lot to keep up with and do well! I invest a lot of time staying current and testing for that very reason.

Support the Brands you Love by Interacting with Them on Facebook and in Real Life

Think of this principle in real life. The longer and more often you “engage” with a store (visit, go inside, talk to the owner or salesperson), the more likely you are to buy from them.  If you simply drive by it frequently it’s not going to help. Example: your local bookstore. You might be glad it’s there. It may add a lot to your community. It has character. People gather there. They bring in authors and have live performances. You really like them. But if you never make time to visit or buy books and instead order all of your books from Amazon.com what will happen to your local bookstore? Yes, exactly what is happening all over America. That bookstore will close. Either that or it will struggle. That’s why I’m willing to spend more to keep places I like in business and why I’m bugged when people only buy what is least expensive (they’re cheap). I’d rather not have a world full of asphalt, chain stores and Walmart!

So on Facebook if you truly like a brand show them! Go out of your way to comment and share their content. It’s a win/win for both.

Learn more about EdgeRank

In the meantime, here’s an awesome infographic with insights on how to rock your Facebook fans (link goes to original post about the infographic):

Just yesterday someone asked how often I blog. I responded not that often anymore. I’m more likely to tweet or use Facebook. Turns out I’m not alone in that sentiment. A new study from the UMass Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research shows that among Inc. 500 companies, adoption of blogging is declining for the first time since 2007. In fact it shows that companies may be deleting their blogs and focusing on other social media.

“Companies are incorporating new platforms and tools into their social media plans including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Texting, downloadable mobile apps and Foursquare while reducing use of blogging, message boards, video blogging, podcasting and MySpace.”

I think it’s a big mistake to stop blogging, and I’ll explain why after some stats.

How the Inc 500 are utilizing social media:

• 50% of the Inc. 500 had a corporate blog in 2010, up from 45% in 2009 and 39% in 2008.
• In 2011, the number with blogs dropped to 37%. This number dropped for the first time in 5 years.
• 74% of the 2011 Inc. 500 is on Facebook. 24% say that Facebook is the most effective social platform they use.
• 73% use LinkedIn. 23% say Linkedin is the most effective for them.
• Texting, downloadable mobile apps, and Foursquare are being utilized by 13 – 15%. I’m betting the mobile app number will rise significantly (surprised it’s so low).
• 99% of executives who responded reported “that social media tools are important for brand awareness and company reputation.”
• 88% percent see these tools as important for generating web traffic.
• 81% find them important for lead generation.

Should companies delete their blogs and just focus in on Facebook? No! Why?

• Because of Edgerank (an algorithm which determines who sees what content), Facebook only shows your company updates to a small percentage of your fans who interact with your brand. This could be as small as 10% or even less of your fans.
• Facebook walled itself off from Google so content won’t show up in search results.
• Facebook updates, tweets (with rare exception) and LinkedIn conversations are not indexed in search engines. The posts from these sites are not seen are basically INVISIBLE. While participating is important for other reasons, it’s not going to help you when someone types something into Google or another search engine.

Why not post content you put on Facebook on your blog? That way you’ll get search engine traffic to your web site. We know people don’t especially like to leave Facebook and go to an external web site. So your Facebook posts are not as effective at driving actual traffic to your web site as people finding your content when they’re looking for it and landing on your web site through your blog. Search engines favor fresh new content just like Facebook does and blogging makes it easy to update your site.

I should be clear that the study does not expressly say companies are deleting their blogs just that they are shifting to these other platforms.

I’m a fan of multi-purposing content. So that picture or video that does well on Facebook should also be blogged about (with more text because that’s better for search engines that can’t as effectively read images), tweeted (a short version) and posted on LinkedIn. And now that picture or video should also be pinned on Pinterest. Your blog is still the ideal base from which to promote and aggregate content.

If you use phrases or questions in the title of your blog post that people are actually searching for it can help bring new (targeted) people and potential customer to you. And if your blog post gets significant traction in social media, that can greatly enhance your rankings in search engines.

So should you follow the Inc. 500 and stop blogging for your business? NO!

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Related Post: USAToday More Companies Quit Blogging

Ever since hearing the news that Facebook is buying image sharing app Instagram I’ve wondered why. Why did Facebook pay $1 BILLION for Instagram? That is an astoundingly high number. Especially since Instagram hadn’t made a cent. It’s also highly unusual for Facebook to buy a company.

First, this validates mobile and how important it is that social networks and services are optimized for the mobilesphere. Next, it’s part of the trend of image sharing/curation of beautiful things (the imagesphere).

To validates Pinterest too. Like Pinterest, Instagram was a unique way brands could “market” their products. Obviously, Facebook wants to reach those businesses. Facebook could also get direct revenue because they show ads on images (I wish I could see figures on that).Is it because it’s an easy way to get rid of a competitor? I don’t think so.

Was it a way to tap into a passionate userbase that Facebook doesn’t have but needs? I don’t think so – because I don’t think the goodwill will transfer (people are deleting their accounts in protest).

Mark Zuckerberg said this on the post about the acquisition on Facebook. “We will try to learn from Instagram’s experience to build similar features into our other products.”

So why did Facebook buy Instagram? I think it’s to bolster their mobile and photo sharing technology so they could better reach businesses.

Here’s an infographic that explains a little behind Instagram’s success. And here’s Mashable’s answer to the question.

Created by: Online MBA Programs

Have you ever gone to pin a post you love and get this error?

Well I found a fix. It’s not elegant but it will do. I use Pinterest for many reasons but one is just to save my favorite blog posts. It’s so much faster to skim images than text. I’m hoping for a tool with more fonts and colors, but for now this is the best I’ve found.

It’s called Pin A Quote: http://www.pinaquote.com

First, drag the app to your browser (the video on the site shows you how, but it’s a lot like Pinterest). Then just highlight any words (such as the title of your blog post, or a quote you love) and it makes them into a graphic that you can save on Pinterest.

After you pin the image of the quote, you need to view your pin. Click to edit the pin, this time adding the correct URL — the one to your blog post or web site. If you skip this step it will link to the “Pin A Quote” web site instead of to your post. Then you’ll see the original source, but this adds an extra step

The ideal is to find or create a graphic to go with your post or anything you pin, but sometimes you just don’t have the time. Mashable publishes a lot of stories about Pinterest but with the same graphic over & over. It’s even more frustrating when there isn’t anything to pin, You can always go back and add a nice graphic later. This just makes sure you don’t forget – it at least saves the post.

Here’s my pin I made of my last post:

I pinned this to my Pinterest case studies board on my business account. I have 2 accounts so far. I really should have more. I can’t wait until I can manage more than one account without having to log out – I assume Hootsuite will offer that. I wish it were native like Facebook. Twitter never did add that functionality.

I almost hate to pin something so plain but when you’re using Pinterest for a bookmarking tool, it does the trick.

Have you found anything better?

I’ve been looking for case studies of people who are making money directly from Pinterest. I’ve found affiliate marketers who are (stay tuned for more on this in a future post). Geoffrey is one of the first to make money by promoting his products on Pinterest.

I’m not advocating that making money directly from Pinterest is the holy grail of marketing. Just like making money on any social network, it’s usually because you’re visible and people like you that you end up making money. In other words, people see and like Geoffrey’s work so they contact him for a design project. It’s rarely a direct sale (someone sees and buys the product).  But sometimes it is and that is what this case study is about.

I interviewed Geoffrey Sagers (that’s such a graphic designer’s spelling, isn’t it?). He’s a graphic designer who got on Pinterest about 9 months ago. He just started to experiment with selling his work. He didn’t set out to do it, but after people asked for copies of his designs, he began to see the potential.

Geoffrey noticed quotes, which are super popular on Pinterest, but a lot of them are ugly. He thought he could do better, so he started making his own versions. Quotes do well on Facebook too (I didn’t ask if Geoffrey has a page for his business). If you design a quote, it’s good for a blog post, a Facebook update, a new product, and a pin.

When he was starting out Geoffrey wasn’t pinning his work, he pinned photographs and things that inspired him. Things that gave him ideas for his own business.

Pinterest is nothing if not a form of inspiration and enchantment. There’s always something to be discovered. I believe in participating from a mindset of sharing and connecting with whatever inspires you, not from a mindset of how much money you can make. Although I’m not a purist. You can use Pinterest any way you choose, or create multiple accounts to use as you please. In fact, you could create a themed account like this one that just showcases Facebook design services.

Of course someone can copy your work and take credit for it. Or Pinterest could decide it’s theirs. But so far it’s worth the risk Geoffrey says. You win some…but not all. Granted it’s not his full-time gig.

Lessons in Fulfillment
At first Geoffrey ran to Walmart to print orders as they came in, but that took a lot of time. He now uses Smugmug . I must say I hate their shopping cart with the small buy button that you have to look for, but that’s not the point of this story. The point is the quality is better and he doesn’t have to do any of the fulfillment.

Appeal to your Target Audience – in this Case Usually Women
The majority of people pinning and repinning on Pinterest are women. That does not mean that men or things that appeal to men can’t do well on the site. It does mean that the majority of pins in most cases are things that appeal to women. I like this. Most businesses like this because you know, the power of the purse. Women make a lot of the purchasing decisions for their families. Think educated, higher income moms and grandmas.

My friend Karen says men are more reluctant to use Pinterest because of the name. Her husband says it’s because men don’t pin things, they nail ‘em. But it was started by a man (who launched Pinterest at Alt Summit, a conference in Utah that mostly women attend).

Timing – When to Pin
Geoffrey says if he doesn’t get at least one repin on his work, he deletes it and pins it another time. Your pin appears as a new item in a category for about 7-10 mins. So if you don’t get a pin in that time it’s unlikely you’ll get them later. I’m sure there will be services that do this but I’ve started to see people hiring for this task.

He’s found that the best times to pin are between 7-8am (before work or school), 11-1:30 (during lunch), and 6-8pm (after dinner).

Colors are Important Too
Again and again I see how colors are important. Geoffrey uses pinks and red when the image is has a love or marriage theme. Otherwise he uses blues or greens. If the quote is hard-hitting then he’ll use a darker background image or grungy look. This could be a coffee stain look or black. So that infographic you create might do better on Pinterest if you change the color scheme.

End of my Long-Winded Post about Pinterest
I can write and write about Pinterest because I genuinely love it. For many reasons both personal and business. I think it’s the most accessible of the social networks. We’re always looking for the fastest way to get information. It’s much faster to skim images than to read. You don’t need to click to be whisked away into dream mode, you’re just in it, bang. I also love how people love Pinterest.

Here’s one of the pins that got Geoffrey the most repins. You’re not used to seeing quotes like this on my blog are you?

Now you can pin this post.

Related articles

• Pinterest, Google+ and Facebook Tips and Techniques (slideshare.net)
• PinPuff For Pinfluencers And Other Ways To Find Pinterest Users (makeuseof.com)
• Pinterest: We’re not going to be sued into oblivion, and here’s why (nextlevelofnews.com)
• Pinterest For Personal Branding: 7 Cool and Practical Uses (personalbrandingblog.com)

When you’re coming out with a new product, you need publicity. Before the product is finished, you should start creating a list of media and bloggers to pitch.

This works even if you don’t have a product but just want to be recognized as an expert on a particular topic.

Let’s say you’re writing a book or you have a product about Facebook marketing.

1. Set up Google alerts for the topic. In this case, “Facebook marketing” and related terms.

2. Every time you read an article from your Google alert, leave a comment. Share your opinion or further insight. Do it right away and you’ll be one of the first comments. I do this and always sign my comments with @Newspapergrl. This starts a relationship with the writer – it gets me on their radar.

3. Search Twitter for the terms too (to see who tweets about the topic). Add them to a Twitter list so you can track them all in one place. Add the people who tweet about Facebook marketing and have a strong following to your media list. Retweet and comment on their tweets.

This is one of my favorite methods for finding case studies and new articles too. Repeat step 2.

4. Use Google to see who writes about a topic on a particular media outlet you want to be published in. For example, you want to get in the New York Times. Type site:newyorktimes.com “Facebook” into Google to see who has written about Facebook.

5. Pin your favorite articles to Pinterest. This is why I added a graphic to this post – to make it pinnable. The reason to add your favorite articles to Pinterest is it makes it very easy to find and browse them plus it can help you rank for the topic in Google (further establishing you as an expert.) Summarize the main points in the description. Now I need to add a Pinterest button to my blog! Here’s my collection of resources for businesses on Pinterest.

Use these techniques to assemble a media list. Then when you’re ready to pitch a journalist of blogger, try this method to personalize your email. Hopefully they will recognize your name and you’ll already be seen as an expert on the topic – perfect for an interview or commentary.

Continue this process and you will build an expanding reach in the topic you’re following.

Do you have any online pr tips to share?

Related articles

• 92 Ways to Get (and Maximize) Press Coverage (seomoz.org)
• How to Take Your PR Pitches to the Next Level (mashable.com)
• 25 Tips from 25 PR Experts (ereleases.com)

I didn’t mind Facebook’s timeline for profiles. I don’t LOVE it but it’s ok. But as a marketer who has clients on Facebook, the timeline for brands is giving me a headache. I can’t imagine how I’d feel right now if I were making my entire living from Facebook.

Changes on Facebook are the norm and you can’t control anything but how you respond. As far as changes go, this one is huge. Yes, those who figure it out have opportunities for new business and it’s why brands pay me to keep up on it for them.

I don’t like how most of the top real estate of the page is going to a giant image. I don’t like the 2 columns. I’m not sure what will happen with apps. My consultation is that most people never visit your brand’s page – they only see your content in their newsfeed (if they interact with you that is).

On March 30, brands will get the new look. You can turn it on now if you want to. I gathered a few resources to help.

• Facebook’s own tutorial http://www.learnfacebookpages.com
• A guide to the new Facebook image sizes and dimensions.
• Hire someone to do it for you: http://www.fbbrandcovers.com
• Hubspot’s guide to the new Facebook timeline – what you need to do now.

It looks like I need to devote some of the time I’m give to studying Pinterest to a new Facebook Page design.

What do you think about the new look? Is it an opportunity or headache for marketers?

This infographic has some insights that made me pause. One of the simple takeaways is make a more secure password with 8 characters and by using at least one capital letter.

Here’s how your identity gets compromised:

Created by: Online Marketing Degree