Pinterest for Scrapbooking

mashable.com

By Lain Ehmann

Can you picture an online bulletin board where you consolidate images from around the web in a single spot? Now imagine you get an unlimited number of boards that you can name and organize however you like. And what if you could share those boards with other people, check what your friends pin to their boards, and comment and share images you like? Wouldn't that be awesome?

Well, that's Pinterest!

Not only can you pin things you find, you can also RE-pin things other people find. It opens up a whole world of connecting and getting inspired via images. Very cool for visual-types like us scrapbookers, eh?

Here are some of my favorite ways to use Pinterst for scrapbooking:

1. A single place to hold all my online inspiration. Instead of having to jump from blog to blog to website to gallery to Flickr and back again, I can hold all my online images in one spot. Every card, every layout, every mini-album can be in one convenient spot. And yes, I can tag them so they're searchable, or create separate boards for each sub-category. Hurray!

2. A great way to track color inspiration. I love finding unique and unusual color combos, from paint swatches to fabrics. I pin these all to a single board I call "Color Inspiration." When I'm feeling dry or tired of the same old colors, I can take a quick glance through my pinned inspiration and find something to jumpstart my creative juices.

3. An interactive wish list. How often do you cruise about the web and encounter something you'd like to purchase at a future time (or like your spouse to purchase for you?). Not EVERYTHING in the world is at Amazon. Now you can create a visual wish list you can share with friends and family, or use to treat yourself when your tax return comes. Eat your heart out, Oprah's Favorite Things!

4. A list of "To Do" items. I've got more tutorials and craft ideas than I could ever complete, even if I were to retire tomorrow. Saving them as browser bookmarks or printing them out and filing them isn't very efficient, but saving them on a Pinterest board is PERFECT. When I have some time, I can peruse my board and pick out a tutorial to try. I can even upload my version of the craft to the same board, or delete the pin entirely after I complete it.

5. A way to track trends. On Pinterest, you can get a running feed of everything that everyone in the whole Pinterest world is pinning. When you do this, you can easily spy trends, commonalities, and inspiration as it jumps from one medium (say, graphic design) to another (like fabric or clothing). I use Pinterest to keep ahead of scrapbooking trends.

If you'd like a 15-page FREE report on how to use Pinterest for Scrapbookers, visit my blog. While you're there, sign up my newsletter athttp://www.getscraphappy.com. Through scrapbooking videos, tutorials, projects and inspiration, I help women make their scrapbooking simple, fast and fun!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lain_Ehmann

Pin Your Articles to Increase Your Exposure

Pin Your Articles to Increase Your Exposure

Penny, Managing Editor

Educate, Motivate, and Inspire with Your Articles on Pinterest

Commonly described as one of the most addicting social networking platforms, Pinterest is a web-based “pinboard” that’s a convenient way to pin anything you find interesting or motivating to share with the world.

You can use Pinterest to your advantage by pinning your articles to increase your exposure. Pinning your EzineArticles.com published articles helps you build a bridge of trust:

From Pinterest (point of entry) to EzineArticles.com (bridge of trust) to your blog or website (safe-landing).

As a Pinterest user, you can upload and link to anything you want to share with others, repin everything that sparks you interest, comment on or like other users’s pins, and easily organize your pins onto Boards.

The pins or images link to the original source, which in turn increases the source’s exposure. Should another user become interested in a pin, they will click-through to the source’s website for more information. If they like what they see, they will repin it.

Not on Pinterest? If you know someone who is already on Pinterest, ask them to send you an invitation. Otherwise, you can request a Pinterest invite (for more information about joining Pinterest click here).

If you already have a Pinterest account, here’s how you can pin your articles:

First of all, you need an image that’s highly relevant to your article, as well as original and sharable. To do this, you can:

• Create the image yourself. This is the easiest method, although it might not be the most polished. There are several apps you can download to give even the most amateur photo that little something extra to attract Pinterest users and increase your chances of getting your pins repinned.
   
• Invest in (or make friends with) a graphic designer. If you don’t have a friend with whom you could barter services, scope out freelancing websites to request an original, polished image.
   
• Purchase stock images. If you are looking for polished work for your pins, but don’t want to put in the effort to develop and cultivate the images yourself, try websites, like iStock Photo or Shutterstock, which provide pay as you go images and/or subscriptions to purchase images.

Once you have an original image that corresponds with your article, follow these steps from yourPinterest account:

1. Select “Add +” and then select “Upload a Pin”
2. Select “Browse” and then open an image from your computer
3. Select a relevant Board to categorize your pin*
4. “Describe your pin” by providing a hook and the title of the article in 500 characters or less
5. Select “Pin It” and then select “Edit”
6. In the “Link” field, paste the URL to your published article, select “Save Pin,” and you’re done!

*Tip: Don’t use Board names relevant only to you, e.g. “My Articles.” Use keywords relevant to your niche to increase your pins ability to be searched. For example, let’s say dog grooming is your niche. Relevant keywords to create Boards may include “Dog Breeds,” “DIY Dog Grooming,” etc.

Pinterest users pin and repin items to be inspired, to be motivated, to connect with others, and to discover new things. Bear this in mind and use the above strategy to increase your exposure and credibility today.