Whether you are launching a product, promoting an existing business, or just need to be noticed, we all need content online. But not all of us are writers. Fortunately, we are witnessing a surge of visual expression: First it was Flickr, then Tumblr, and now, it's the explosive growth of Pinterest.
If those names mean something to you, you are probably nodding in agreement, because you know what they represent a means of spreading your influence online, whether you express yourself visually or not. If those names mean nothing, read on to discover their value.
Most of us who expect to get attention online know that we need to have an active website. Posting on Twitter and Facebook keep audiences interested. Blogs and Twitter posts keep search engines visiting our websites so that they are more highly-ranked in search results. Posting to Google+ will help your Google rankings. But something else is happening with visually-driven portals like Pinterest. With Pinterest you can leverage the social web by using visuals alone, and at the moment it is leaving Google+ in the dust. The social web is about words, but it's visual, too.
You don't have to be an image-making pro to know that if you post to Flickr, those images will show up when people search for you, and they can bring people to your website in just a few clicks.(Especially if you write a short caption for them.) If you post photo albums to Facebook, your audience is already in your space - connecting with you on Facebook. If you post images to Tumblr, a blog interface somewhat like WordPress, you also bring people into your world. Tumblr blogs are great visual vehicles.
Pinterest is the game changer in all this. Why?
When you post an image on Pinterest you can make it link anywhere you want - to your site, to a 'buy' page, to any number of ways you'd like to connect. If you have a product or service that is visually appealing, you are golden, because on Pinterest people will share your image - along with your link - among their friends. If you include a short caption, so much the better. Even if your product is a newspaper, there's hope. The venerable Wall Street Journal has started posting quotes from the newspaper, which click through to online articles.
Here are a few tips to get you started.
Post images that communicate what you stand forYour images should include a short caption or descriptionUse Pinterest's "Pin It" to add images from your website.Post links to your Facebook albums in your e-newsletter and in blogsLee Schneider is consultant at Red Cup Consulting, an agency that works with clients to build online influence.
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