How to Make Money on Pinterest for Beginners

If you’re looking for a beginner’s guide on how to make money off Pinterest, you’re in the right place. 

Pinterest is one of the biggest platforms in the world, which means lots of opportunities to make money there!

Pinterest is a free, content-sharing website that has been around since 2010.

Head over to the site and you’ll find a range of information across various categories — like beauty, travel, motivational quotes, digital products, food, and DIY home projects.

Pinterest users can browse the site and pin images they see from around the web on their pages.

The primary purpose of the average website visitor is to discover inspiration and share cool or thought-provoking media, such as fudgy flourless gluten-free brownie recipes or patio furniture ideas.

Pinterest has a reputation for being one of those rare social media platforms where visitors are more than happy to follow a good set of pictures to a website and become buying traffic.

In other words, you don’t have to dive into paid ads to make Pinterest work for you. If you find that you love Pinterest, then why not take a look at what it can do for you and your online earnings?

Did you know that 85% of weekly Pinners have purchased based on a pin they saw? Also, 31% of millennials in the UK with a household income of over 100K Euros are on Pinterest.

More than 400 million users browse Pinterest monthly. That’s even more than Amazon gets!

Interestingly, a large portion of Pinterest’s base is affluent. 45 percent of people in the U.S. with a household income over $100,000 are on Pinterest.

Another important thing to keep in mind is that most people go to Pinterest to either start a new project or make a purchase.

According to Pinterest, 85 percent of users say they browse the site to start a new project. And 80 percent of weekly Pinners report discovering a new brand or product on the site.

People love coming to Pinterest for planning. Whether it’s decorating their kitchen or wardrobe, Pinterest is the go-to place for everyone.

This indicates the wide opportunity for merchants, content creators, business owners, and influencers to earn money from Pinterest.

With the above statistics, you will get a brief idea of how Pinterest is going to be valuable for you. As the audience grows, your opportunities will increase too.

This post likely piqued your interest and now you’re wondering how to make money on Pinterest.

Now that you know the opportunity Pinterest provides, let’s look at how to start making money using the platform.

One of the most important things I’ve learned is that there is no “quick way” to make money on Pinterest.

You need to be committed, patient, and willing to invest your time and energy into it.

Another thing to note is Pinterest is a search engine where users go to look for inspiration and solutions to their problems. (NOT social media).

And like any other search engine is to realize that building authority and following is important.

Using solid SEO tactics when creating descriptions for your boards, your pins, and even your profile will make it much more likely that each of your pins will be found by visitors and drive traffic to the platforms where you turn visitors into income.

Whether you are a novice to online marketing or blogging, this guide will help you determine different ways you can use Pinterest to make money.

SETTING UP YOUR PINTEREST ACCOUNT FOR SUCCESS 

1. Set up your business Pinterest account.

It doesn’t take long to create a good account profile. This is an important step that will pay off if you do it right.

Start by creating a free Pinterest account by submitting your name and email address and setting a password.

Pinterest offers two types of accounts, including options for personal and business use.

Since we’re talking about making money, select a Pinterest business account.

Pinterest personal accounts are not for commercial purposes. However, it’s possible to start with a personal account and convert it to a business account down the line.

Pinterest for business offers wider brand exposure and advanced tools for analytics and reporting. So it’s the way to go if you’re serious about making money.

Don’t make the mistake of creating a personal Pinterest account in this step. Signing up for a business account keeps everything above board.

You won’t be making money on Pinterest for long if your account gets banned for violating the rules!

Signing up for a business Pinterest account is easy, free, and gives you access to a lot of great information.

This includes traffic, analytics, and Pinterest’s information on which of your pins are doing best. There’s a lot of information available at your fingertips.

Once you sign up from the account you will be given instructions to “claim your website.” This links your blog and your presence on Pinterest. This is a step you shouldn’t skip. Don’t worry, they make it ridiculously easy.

Set up your profile. This includes a snappy little bio that includes important relevant keywords.

This will tell Pinterest what your profile is about and what search terms should point to your account. This helps other Pinterest users find your relevant pictures and pins.

Remember that your focus is on Pinterest. It will be the main source of traffic and money for your website. You will promote your blog posts on Pinterest.

It’s simple to create an account in only a few steps. You can follow this guide to quickly set up your business account.

Moreover, you can enroll in an affordable Pinterest course that will walk you through all the important things and steps to grow on Pinterest.

This Pinterest course is so helpful for beginners and even intermediate students.

Speaking of my own experience, you will learn so much about Pinterest Marketing and Pinterest strategy. It’s so pocket-friendly that you are not risking too much on this small educational investment.

2. Make A Pinterest Profile

After setting up an account, the next step is to create a profile.

Add a photo, your location, and any information that you want to convey to the public.

As a word of advice, remember to match your Pinterest brand with whatever brand you’re promoting.

Your Pinterest page will be a direct extension of the organization you’re representing, whether it’s your company or a client’s company.

Pinterest profiles present a unique opportunity for brands to expand their horizons and express personality beyond traditional marketing methods. The content you share sets the tone of your brand.

To illustrate, check out Tilly and Patagonia. Don’t be afraid to get creative and expand beyond the products you are trying to sell.

3. Understanding the Basics of Pinterest

Getting started means learning the basics. Posting pictures here is done by creating boards and pins. Pins are the individual pictures. Boards represent a collection of related pictures.

This allows you to not only organize your pictures but also encourages visitors to Pinterest who like one picture or topic to look at many others.

That way you don’t get a person who looks at one picture and leaves but looks at a number of your pins.

This is also why quality matters. A good collection of pins on a board can lead to people following you, and re-visiting your page, and makes them much more likely to go through to your website. Quality boards full of great pins are one of the fastest ways to build authority in your niche.

Numbers matter, but you are far better off with just a few really great boards versus a large number of mediocre ones. Having ugly or mediocre pictures can really hurt your efforts on Pinterest.

If you can provide a lot of boards, all full of great pins, then you’re taking off. The combination of quantity and quality makes all the difference. Don’t be intimidated by creating boards. 

Because you can speak from your personal experience and bring a level of trust and expertise to the subject that makes readers/viewers comfortable.

This is why you should look at focusing on niches that you are involved in, interested in, or at least understand. This will help you to understand your audience, what they are looking for, and how to serve them better with your Pinterest page. 

If you’re passionate about your topic, you also will be more likely to build a responsive community.

This will get you to return visitors, re-pins, and people sharing your boards with their groups. That type of marketing & support is huge when building up your account so you can make money by driving that Pinterest traffic to your blog.

Upload your pin onto your Pinterest business account

Once you have started a blog and published your first 5 to 10 blog posts (along with creating a catchy Pin image for that blog post), upload your pins onto your Pinterest account.

Uploading your pins and attaching the link of your blog post to those images, will help you get traffic to your blog.

Getting traffic to your blog means the potential to earn money online through monetization methods like display advertising (perfect for beginners), affiliate marketing, sponsored posts, and selling your coaching services or digital products.

With traffic, you apply to ad management companies like Google AdSense, Ezoic, Monumetric, and Mediavine so you can start earning display advertising money through your Pinterest traffic. I elaborate on how to get traffic on Pinterest in the next section.

Here is a quick step-by-step tutorial on how to upload your Pin to your Pinterest account and link those images to get visitors and pageviews. Again, this is assuming you have already launched your blog.

• Step 1: Log into your Pinterest business account
• Step 2: Go to “Create” >> “Create Pin”
• Step 3: Select the desired PIN image from your computer drive and fill in the fields.

See the screenshot below to follow these steps:

1. Select your desired pin from your computer drive
2. Add your heading/title to the field.
3. Add your pin description into the field (remember to optimize it with keywords and phrases)
4. Enter your desired blog post link.
5. Publish immediately or Publish at a later date (with a later date, you can pre-schedule your Pins, which I like to use)
6. Select the relevant board that you want to pin this pin.

Once you consistently create blog posts and pin out the images with the articles’ links, you’ll start seeing traffic to your site.

4. Building Your Pinterest Traffic Machine

Once the website is set to go and the profile to your business Pinterest account is properly set up, all that’s left is building that Pinterest traffic machine.

Granted, easier said than done. The good news is that this is far simpler than many people believe.

Creating a Killer Pinterest Account

The first step is getting a lot of experience using this social media site. The best teacher is experienced. If you want to master Pinterest you need to go through being a beginner and learn your stuff first hand.

Every website or online platform is a little bit different. Learning what the people who spend a lot of time on Pinterest are looking for (and what they aren’t).

This type of insight not only helps you create better pins that will attract attention and shares but also teaches you what to avoid. Learn how the online environment works.

Create Pinterest boards and pins.

The next step is to create Pinterest boards and complete your Pinterest profile.

Create at least 5-10 personal boards that are related to the content you publish on your website.

Now you can start creating boards and making pins for your Pinterest account. I recommend using Canva to make pins when you’re a beginner. The service is free and easy to use.

make sure to sprinkle relevant keywords into your personal boards and pin descriptions. By the way, when I say “sprinkle” I don’t mean keyword stuffing!

Engaging in group boards is another way to engage with different target audiences and drive traffic to your website or store.

An easy way to start is figuring out which boards your competitors and influencers are using. Go to their Pinterest pages and make a note of what boards they are saving.

When you see an active board in line with what your company offers, go ahead and request to join the group.

You may also want to turn existing boards into group boards. To invite others to participate in an existing project, simply tap the “plus” button under the board title and loop in other collaborators.

As the group owner, you’ll have full control over who participates.

PRO TIP: An alternative to joining group boards is to start using Tailwind Communities. This will allow you to upload your pins to each community (like a group board) where members will share them. 

Aside from the Communities feature, I also use Tailwind to schedule my pins to both group boards and my boards. Since using Tailwind, my traffic increased from 500 to over 3,500 daily page views (sometimes hitting as high as 5,000 per day)!

Great Tools for Pinterest

In the beginning, you will want to play around a bit to get the hang of what Pinterest is like. Being comfortable with the platform and understanding how things work is crucial before you start using tools to improve your results.

Canva: A Great Beginner Tool

Right away you’ll want to get familiar with Canva. Pins don’t have to be unedited pictures. Look at using editing software or tools to add text, highlight, change background, shift color, and more. There are plenty of tools for creating stunning pins that bring out even more than the original picture ever could.

Canva is a great free tool. It offers plenty of options for editing & changing pictures, adding text, creating collages (which we discuss more in our guide on how to make a collage on Instagram story), and more. The basics are incredibly easy to pick up on and the site offers free Canva tutorials so you can get the most out of the tool.

You don’t need to be a graphic design expert or tech-savvy to take advantage of Canva (and Piktochart). This is part of what makes it such a fantastic free tool for helping you make eye-catching, inspirational pins.Try Out Canva for Free Right Here!

Tailwind App: Powerful Pinterest Tool

The Tailwind App is a great tool for scheduling pins. This takes a little bit of time to set up but can be an incredible time saver in addition to a very effective tool. This allows you to take a bulk bit of time to set up pins for days or even weeks ahead of time.

Being able to automate that process is a major time saver that lets you put out more quality content in less time. In addition, Tailwind also creates “tribes” among its users.

This allows influencers to connect, find more interested followers, and reach new audiences in their niche.

There is a free trial period for first-time users but after that, this is a subscription tool. However, when properly used it is well worth the cost.

There are multiple free guides for how to get the most out of this app. A major part is going to be having the ability to connect with Tailwind tribes.

That extra exposure, as a bonus to an outstanding tool, can do a lot for you and your Pinterest efforts. Try Tailwind for Free Right Here!

How to get Pinterest traffic?

The right Pinterest strategy and solid Pinterest marketing drive traffic to a website.

You need to increase traffic from Pinterest to make money on Pinterest. The more views from Pinterest, the more ad income you will make.

Run advertisements

Once you clearly understand how your Pins are performing, you can begin promoting them with online ads.

By running paid ads you can expand your business’s reach, generate more traffic to your website, and increase purchases.

Using Pinterest Ads Manager to drive profits

Pinterest provides access to the Ads Manager tool for creating and managing Pinterest campaigns and monitoring performance.

One cool feature of Pinterest Ads Manager is the ability to duplicate existing ads. So if a campaign turns out to be successful, it’s easy to replicate and split-test it.

Ads Manager also lets you run multiple campaigns simultaneously, and you can organize campaigns into ad groups if they share similar themes.

Picking a goal

All advertisements require you to set a marketing objective, which is what you want to get out of your campaign. For most of you, the goal should be generating a conversion or product sale.

The goal you choose ultimately impacts bidding, targeting, and ad formats.

Use search engine optimization (SEO) to generate Pinterest traffic

Want more people to find your page? It is critical to optimize SEO, just like you would for any other website.

Use relevant keywords that resonate with your brand and products to get the most out of Pinterest’s and Google’s algorithms. It’s also necessary to pick an SEO-friendly username since the name goes into your profile URL.

In addition, you will need to create a Pinterest tag, which is a piece of code that you add to your website that lets Pinterest track visitors to your website and monitor their actions.

Further reading: Best SEO Tips for Bloggers

Use Pinterest templates

As you know by now, Pinterest is all about appearances. So the trick is to make your boards eye-catching and shareable. One way to do this is to use Pinterest templates.

For more information, check out Canva’s impressive selection of Pinterest Templates.

Sell templates

If you’re a graphic design wiz, you can also create templates on Canva and sell them to other users.

This can lead to residual income because you can sell unlimited templates for reuse. Who knows? Create a few popular templates and money could start trickling in monthly.

Create Pincodes

Pincodes are QR code-like graphics that enable you to share Pinterest content in the real world.

By creating a Pincode, other Pinners can point their camera — or Pinterest Lens — at the code and scan it.

To create a PIN code, simply click your profile picture and select “download Pincode.” Then, share the Pincode with people when you meet them or in advertisements.

Next Steps

Getting started the right way matters. This is the foundation that your future success (or failure) will be based on.

You’ve set up a great blog with a dozen or more in-depth high-quality blog posts, have around the same number of great boards on your Pinterest account, and feel pretty confident about where you are.

So what’s next?

The next step comes to actually building authority on Pinterest. You’re looking to build a responsive and interactive community. When you have people looking to visit and revisit your site and share your new boards, that speeds up the process.

You need to create pins, make fantastic boards, and reach out to connect. Don’t underestimate the power of group boards.

Something many people also underestimate is just how willing many people are willing to help when they have a chance to do so.

This means also spending time early on building authority. This is done by making sure all your boards and individual pins are all excellent.

On top of that, look around Pinterest for successful boards in your niche or related niches.

Follow those channels, share some of their best pins or boards, and don’t be afraid to reach out. There is a definite community aspect to Pinterest. Being able to make a few connections and show you’re an active part of that community will help to get more followers who will do the same for you.

As long as you continue to focus on quality then more eyes will mean more shares and more traffic.

You want to post consistently. The channel needs to be active to grow that community of visitors keeping tabs on whenever you add new content.

Building that authority makes a huge difference. A tool like Tailwind can definitely help with this part. Especially in being able to set up weeks of scheduled posting in half an hour to an hour.

Each of those pins can have a great description and a link to your website. These links drive the traffic to your website. That’s the engine that helps you use Pinterest to earn money on your website.

1. Drive traffic and sales with Pinterest ads

It takes money to make money online. Yes, there are other ways (we’ll cover them as well) to monetize your Pinterest account, but trying Pinterest ads is the FASTEST way.

Why?

Running ads on Pinterest can help you with the following;

• Increase your followers quickly
• Build and grow your personal brand
• Generate more traffic to your website and
• Increase the overall conversions and sales to your site

Also, Pinterest reveals the following stats officially.

• 2.3x more efficient cost per conversion than ads on social media
• 2x higher return on ad spend for retail brands compared to social media

The above stats show that Pinterest is an extremely valuable platform for businesses that want to reach a large audience and drive sales.

Pinterest users are already interested in making purchases (from the Pins they see on the platform), so YOU can use Pinterest to promote products smartly.

Running ads on Pinterest is a no-brainer, especially if you’re a business owner or have some products to sell.

Here are a few practical tips for running Pinterest ads to generate more followers, leads, and sales.

Set a budget: Start with a realistic budget. You can start as small as a $100 budget on Pinterest ads. The key here is to set a budget, stick to that budget, and run regular ads to see better results.

Choose the right ad format: Different ad formats are available on Pinterest, so choose the one that best suits your goals. For example, if you want to increase website traffic, you might want to use a standard ad format. If you want to generate leads, you might want to use a video ad format.

Create targeted ads: The best thing about Pinterest ads is that you can target your ads based on demographics, interests, and past purchase behavior. This feature ultimately helps you show your ads to only those people who are most likely to be interested in what you have to offer.

Above all, make sure to try A/B testing ads by testing different variations of your ads, including visuals, calls to action, text, etc. A/B testing helps you easily identify the most effective elements of your ads so you can improve your conversions.

1. Drive traffic to your blog.

Pinterest traffic is honestly a new blogger’s BFF! When you have a new blog or website, I recommend focusing your efforts on learning how to drive traffic from Pinterest for beginners and monetizing your blog! It’s a lot easier and faster to get traffic from Pinterest than Google when your website is new.

When Pinterest is used correctly and consistently, you can drive a lot of traffic to your blog and make money through display advertising.

Again, you need to write blog posts that are helpful to your readers! Depending on how many ads you put and which ad network you’re with, you can potentially make between $6 to $50 per 1,000 page views each day.

UPDATE: Over the years of blogging and using Pinterest to earn a full-time income online, I’ve had many readers and students request me to create a comprehensive Pinterest guide to show them how to get traffic to their blogs, so they can start making money on Pinterest. I finally created and launched The Golden Compass To Pinterest Traffic for bloggers here.

In this Pinterest traffic course, I also included a bonus ebook that teaches beginners how to monetize your blog on Pinterest. I talk about the exact monetization methods I used to earn over $200,000 a year!

Here is my experience on how I first made money on Pinterest with Google Adsense followed by Mediavine when I was still a beginner.

My income has increased since then, but I kept these examples on this page to demonstrate that beginners like you can do it too!

5. Get To Know Pinterest

If you want to become successful in selling stuff on Pinterest, you must familiarize yourself with how the platform works and become somewhat of an expert on it.

Key terms to know about

Boards

Just as the name suggests, a board is like a bulletin board. This is where you collect ideas to share with public viewers.

Group boards

It’s possible to start a board and invite other people to contribute to it using group boards. Pinterest also lets you request to join other public boards.

Pins

A Pinterest Pin is simply something that you post on Pinterest. When you find something that catches your eye — or that you want to sell — Pin it to a board for others to see.

Users can also re-pin on Pinterest. This happens when a user takes an existing Pin and saves it to another Pinterest board.

Rich Pin

A Rich Pin is a type of Pin that shows metadata in the actual Pin. It provides a more comprehensive experience and increases engagement.

Pinners

Pinterest calls users Pinners. To become a Pinner, you simply need to create an account.

Exploring Pinterest

The first thing that you’ll see when exploring Pinterest is the home page, which contains recommended Pins based on the interests you select. You’ll also see content from other accounts, boards, and topics that you choose to follow.

To research new Pinterest ideas, navigate away from the website and start browsing the internet for things you like. For example, you might find a picture of a pair of homemade candle holders or a tutorial on how to make holiday cookies.

Look for a social banner on the website where you’re browsing, and select the Pinterest logo to save media to one of your boards.

4. Claim your site

At this point, you should have a working knowledge of Pinterest and a general understanding of whether or not it’s right for you and your brand.

But before you dive in, you must understand that running a social media site like Pinterest is a big undertaking that requires regular upkeep — especially if you’re part of an active community or working with a popular brand. So, in general, it’s a good idea to make sure you have the bandwidth to maintain a Pinterest page.

If you’re still on board and have a website, seal the deal by claiming it.

Claiming your site allows you to access analytics for the Pins that you publish from your website, as well as Pins that other users create using your content.

When you claim a website, your profile picture appears next to any Pins that originate from your website. In addition, you get a “follow” button for your Pinterest account that lives next to your website URL on your profile.

The site also offers account verification. Verified merchants get a blue checkmark, while creators and verified accounts get red checkmarks. These indicators help build trust with viewers and show your account is legitimate.

5. Create Pins

By this point, you should have a functioning business account and a linked website.

Now, it’s time to start making money by creating Pins to share your products.

Types of Pins

Standard

The standard Pins format is images. You can upload multiple images at a time and add pin descriptions.

Remember that picture quality counts. The goal should be to share eye-popping visuals that attract people and get them excited about what you’re offering.

Videos

In addition to photos, it’s a good idea to offer videos because they can potentially go viral.

If you want to rack up shares, your videos need to be high-quality.

Products

In addition to posting standard images, Pinterest also supports actual products.

Posting something as a product lets you show real-time pricing and availability. If you have a product to sell (e.g., clothes or accessories), this is how to do it.

Ideas

Ideas are short video clips that Pinners can tap through. The site supports up to 20 frames, with each one lasting up to 60 seconds.

Collections

Another way to enhance your posts is to offer collections. This involves bringing together multiple images that complement one another.

For example, a vintage clothing provider might post a collection including a vintage watch, a fancy hat, a bow tie, and a tweed jacket.

Collections is a popular approach for holiday themes. For example, you might offer several different items that customers can mix and match to create the perfect Sherlock Holmes Halloween costume.

6. Review Pinterest analytics

Pinterest offers powerful analytics for tracking the performance of boards, ads, and Pins in real-time. This way, you can see which posts are generating the most engagement.

Pinterest Analytics metrics to track

Here is a breakdown of some of the top metrics to track on Pinterest.

Impressions

Impressions indicate how many times your Pins or ads appear on the screen.

Engagements

Engagements refer to saves, Pin clicks, carousel card swipes, and outbound clicks for Pins.

Outbound clicks

Outbound clicks indicate the number of times Pinners perform actions that send them to a destination outside of Pinterest.

Outbound click rate

Outbound click rate is the total number of clicks to the destination URL linked to the Pin, divided by the total number of times your Pins appeared on the screen.

Pin clicks

Pin clicks refer to the total number of clicks on your Pin or ad leading to content off of Pinterest.

Pin click rate

Pin click rate is the total number of clicks on your Pin or ad divided by the total number of times Pins or ads appear on the screen.

Video views

Video views measure the number of views that last at least two seconds, with 50 percent of the video in view.

Engagement rate

Engagement rate is the total number of engagements with your Pins divided by the total number of times your Pins were seen. This includes Pin clicks, saves, and outbound clicks.

Save rate

Save rate is the total number of people who saw or engaged with your Pins.

STRATEGIES FOR MONETIZING PINTEREST

This is the moment you’ve been waiting for!

Pin It! This guide is fairly detailed so you may want to bookmark this page and come back to it if you can’t finish it today.

There are two popular ways to make money on Pinterest.

• One way is to start a money-making blog (my top recommendation), and 
•  The other method doesn’t require a blog, which I will talk about later.

As long as you have basic computer skills such as typing (which most of us do in 2024) AND you have a strong willingness to learn and implement what I’m about to say, then you are ready to start using Pinterest to your advantage.

You are now ready to learn how to make money on Pinterest after you’ve mastered the following:

• Wrote 5-10 epic blog articles related to your niche that are inspiring and solve a problem.
• Sign up for a Pinterest business account and verify your domain.
• Created eye-catching pins with clickable images and titles like these here.
• Joined a minimum of 10 group boards and made 10 personal boards related to your niche.
• Optimize your bio profile, boards, and pins by sprinkling relevant keywords throughout.

Here are a few ways you can start making money on Pinterest after having your blog and Pinterest account set up!

There are plenty of people making a lot of money on Pinterest, but they treat Pinterest very differently from those people who aren’t seeing the same level of success.

The key is to set up your blog, monetize it, and use Pinterest as a picture-based search engine to drive large amounts of traffic to your blog.

This allows you to create a source of traffic that you already have trust with and who are familiar with your account. This also makes that traffic much more likely to take action or buy from you.

This means that you do need to know how to make money online. Websites focused on affiliate marketing are one of the most common strategies for making this work. This gives you an online property you can monetize in many ways.

When people are talking about making money on Pinterest this is almost certainly what they mean. They use Pinterest to get attention and drive traffic. Then they make money on their blog with that traffic.

Start A Blog And Make Money On Pinterest!

If you already have a good blog set up and monetized, then great! You’re already a little bit ahead of the game. 

If not then you want to learn how to start a blog before you ramp up your Pinterest efforts. While this does take some up-front investment, you might be surprised how little you need to pay to start a money-making blog.

If you’re just starting, go with inexpensive reliable hosting. This gives you control over your website. If you get enough traffic so you need even better (and much more expensive) hosting, then you can always do that later.

In the beginning, an inexpensive but reliable hosting like Bluehost is perfect and keeps the costs down.

You want, no scratch that, you NEED control over your website. Go with Bluehost. Do NOT go on “free to blog” platforms like WordPress.com (not the same as bloggers who talk about WordPress websites) or Blogger.

Creating a quality blog that can help you make money online involves a few different steps. The first one is deciding what niche you’re going to focus on. This should be the same topic that you focus on in your Pinterest account.

Will it travel? Sports? The great outdoors? Basement remodeling, lawn care, woodworking, or some other niche? There are plenty of options out there.

Pick something you’re interested in and make sure both your website and Pinterest focus on that same topic.

A quality blog will have several features that make it stand out from the rest. A lot of these are the same things that Google looks for when judging what content to rank.

The blog will focus on a specific area that builds authority. There will be multiple articles that provide quality in-depth content.

This isn’t just quantity. 5,000 words of fluff doesn’t help you at all. Your articles need to have great information, be trustworthy, and be easy to read and understand.

Concentrate on building one of the absolute best resources out there on your niche and you will be on the right track.

If you don’t know where to start, think about creating step-by-step blog posts answering common questions people have. Then create some large in-depth authority posts.

Write Relevant And Helpful Content.

Now that you’ve started a blog, write 5-10 blog posts related to your niche that will solve your readers’ problems.

Before you start writing, take a step back and figure out who your target audience is.

I always recommend choosing something you enjoy talking about.

Don’t choose a topic just because you think it will make money. Sure, it may work out, but can you keep writing about something you don’t have a genuine interest in?

The last thing you want is for your blog to feel like a chore.

This diagram will help you determine what you can write about while solving your readers’ problems.

• Passion: I’m not going to tell you to quit your job and chase your passions without any financial support. But what would you do with your life if you were financially independent? I know this is tough to answer, so this free personality test is amazing and can help you figure it out as long as you answer truthfully!
• Skills: What are you good at? What do you usually get compliments on?
• Market demand: What are people searching A LOT for on Google and Pinterest? I recommend using SEMrush for some guidance. Billions of people out there want answers and solutions to their problems!

Remember that readers need your help with something. Most of them aren’t here to read about your problems. When they land on your page, they will subconsciously ask:

“What’s in it for me?”

Your ideal spot is to hit all these 3 elements (passion, skills, and market demand)!

I know it’s easier said than done, but if you put the time and effort into figuring this out, you will be rewarded!

PRO TIP: You don’t have to be an expert in your field to be considered skilled. For example, you could document your learning journey and teach others your mistakes and what you’ve learned. Lessons add a ton of value to your readers (as long as it’s what people are searching for A LOT)!

Monetize Your Blog

Just to make it clear: there’s a BIG gap between step two and step three. You need to have a quality blog with some seriously good content on it before jumping to how to monetize.

Many affiliate programs and display ad providers require a certain amount of traffic before accepting you into the program.

Even those that don’t will almost certainly do at least a cursory check on your website. Having a good-looking blog with great content will help you fly through the approval process.

Concentrating on creating really good blog posts will also help you rank in Google and get organic traffic from them, as well.

Once you have that great website with some truly epic posts, then look at how to monetize. With a focus on Pinterest, several options can work well.

Affiliate marketing and display ads are both going to be popular options. This makes sense since they are both really easy and effective ways to earn money from your website.

An established website that gets a lot of traffic from Pinterest offers other options, as well. While affiliate sales and display ad income are nice, there are other ways to make time on Pinterest pay off handsomely.

Pinterest consulting is in high demand. There are plenty of online marketers and even companies looking to hire a skilled Pinterest VA.

Improving the on-site Pinterest presence of other accounts or even teaching Pinterest strategies are other options.

There are more details on these down below, but this shows you just how many opportunities there are! Don’t pigeonhole yourself when it comes to options for making money off of a thriving Pinterest account.

I highly recommend starting a self-hosted blog with THIS web-hosting company before you learn how to make money on Pinterest.

I know you might be thinking of starting a blog for free on WordPress.com or Blogger, but DO NOT go that route!

It would be nearly impossible to make money when you sign up for a free blog because no one will take you seriously.

On top of that, applying to ad networks and affiliate programs will be extremely tough. So believe me, you will want to start your blog the correct way by following my easy step-by-step tutorial here. You will thank yourself for doing this!

If you’re interested and would like to learn more, you can visit my tutorial, How To Start a Blog for Beginners here.

Become An Affiliate Marketer

The second way you can make money on Pinterest is by placing an affiliate link in your blog and then driving traffic to your blog via Pinterest.

An affiliate link is a link that allows you to earn a commission if someone buys a product or service you recommend via your affiliate links, AT NO EXTRA COST to the buyer.

After they purchase through your affiliate link, you earn a small commission without any additional cost to the buyer. In other words, you get rewarded by providing value and/or solving someone’s problem through a product or service.

The seller gets a sale. The buyer pays the same price either way. And you get a commission from the seller, for directing the buyer to the product.

When you create a pin, you can attach a URL to it so that when someone clicks on it, they are taken to the site.

When you are a blogger the general plan is to get them to click through to your site, but in this case, you will be attaching the URL of the affiliate link.

It’s important to not rely on this strategy alone because platforms always change their algorithms or policies on affiliate links. It’s best to have a strategy that isn’t just on one platform.

We have found success with affiliate marketing, which was largely helped by taking the course Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing, which we highly recommend.

Here is a list of affiliate marketing programs for beginners:

• Shareasale
• Max bounty
• CJ affiliates
• Awin
• Amazon Affiliates – Perfect for beginners, easy approval
• Flex offers
• Impact
• Rakuten network

So this is the process you follow :

• Set up a blog
• Apply for affiliate networks
• Set up Pinterest
• Write a blog post and include affiliate links in the post
• Drive traffic from Pinterest to your blog and start earning from affiliate marketing

If you need some guidance on making money from your blog via affiliate marketing, this course is the only reason I started making money on my blog.

The course is run by a lady called Michelle who made over $100,000, per month, on affiliate marketing from her blog.

So, if you want to start earning money from your blog within 2 months, check out how here.

Here are some of the PROVEN ways to generate more affiliate sales from Pinterest.

Be strategic: If you want to use platforms like Pinterest for affiliate marketing, you need to be intentional with what products you promote. Only promote products that add HUGE value to your audience. Be picky about the products you promote.

Make sure to create awareness about the products you promote on Pinterest. Create multiple pins for each piece of content. That way, you can reach a wider audience and increase your chances of getting more clicks from Pinterest.

It’s better to link to product reviews or videos than directly pasting affiliate links. Also, make sure to respond to questions and comments about the product. This will help you build relationships with your Pinterest followers and encourage them to click on your affiliate links.

Disclose links: Whenever you’re promoting an affiliate product on Pinterest, make sure to add a disclosure. It will help you build trust with your audience. There are several ways to disclose affiliate links on Pinterest, as you can add a hashtag such as “#affiliatelink” or “#sponsored” to disclose your affiliate referral links.

Use proper tools: Here are some of the best tools you can use for Pinterest affiliate marketing.

• Canva: This is an excellent graphic design tool for creating appealing pins for your account.
• Buffer: This tool can schedule your Pinterest posts in advance and give you insights on popular pins.
• Pingroupie: It is a free search engine for Pinterest that lets you discover collaborative Boards, influencers, Pins, and new keywords.

Above all, create boards that are related to your niche and smartly categorize them. Make your affiliate products fit within the appropriate boards.

PRO TIP: You must disclose in your Pin that you’re posting an affiliate marketing link. Most people do this by simply typing (affiliate) or (affiliate link) at the end of the post. One way around posting this disclaimer is by driving the traffic to a blog page first, where you can then feature the affiliate product.

PRO TIP: Use Canva to make pretty pins that will drive massive traffic to your blog post with affiliate links. I use the free version and it’s more than enough for beginners

Affiliate links are the main way I earn from my blog, as it’s somewhat passive. This means that I earn from my blog even though I am not directly working on it.

For example, yesterday while I slept, pinners in different time zones viewed and clicked on my pins and visited my website.

Some of them bought the products or services recommended on my site and I earned a commission.

It is important to disclose on your site that you have affiliate links.Affiliate earnings will always be more than advertising earnings. It’s more effort but you get more money.

Partner With Other Brands

Partnering up with other brands is another way to monetize your Pinterest account.

But.. you need to have a decent following on your profile (10K followers or more) to attract brands that pay you.

Brand sponsorships are where you work with brands to promote them in exchange for a fee.

To generate a decent fee for doing this, you will have to have a successful Pinterest account which you can get from the analytics and Google Analytics.

Brands will want to know that you’re maintaining a decent following to be able to reach a good number of potential customers.

Make sure that you work with brands that fit in with your business and ethics.

Companies are always looking for a cost-efficient way to market their products to interested customers. Sponsorships have become a very popular option because the return on investment (ROI) tends to be so high.

When you can show you have a devoted following on Pinterest there are likely to be companies who are willing to pay to sponsor you. The amount they are willing to pay depends on the niche, the number of followers you have, and the traffic that your analytics will show.

Here’s how the brand partnership works;

• Find a brand that’s relevant to your business
• Finalize your terms and conditions (such as what to post, how much they’ll pay you, the frequency of sponsored posts, etc..)
• Create your pins mentioning the brand you’re going to promote. Add the paid partnership label and tag the brand.

The best way to make money off Pinterest’s brand partnerships is to become an expert in your niche.

Is it possible for you to become an influencer on Pinterest?

Yes, you can certainly become an influencer on Pinterest and work with other startup brands to promote their products or services. So many influencers started from scratch, built a following, and made a passive income from Pinterest.

The key here is to identify your niche. Don’t pin stuff on everything under the sun. Be picky!

Once you know your niche, you can start creating pins that appeal to people who are interested in the same things.

Here are some of the things you can do as an influencer;

• Build and grow an engaged audience in a specific niche
• Find relevant brand partnerships and collaborations (you can do a competitor analysis to search for brands)
• Talk about their products and kink their products on pins so other users can shop

Think outside the box. There are likely to be obvious brands or companies to go ask for a sponsorship. There are also plenty of related niches where you might find potential partners. 

That means many good opportunities for creating a partnership. This is often especially true with smaller to mid-sized brands. They also often don’t require the same traffic numbers as larger ones when it comes to sponsorship options.

Joint Promotions

A joint promotion on Pinterest is when a brand works together with a creator on Pinterest to develop a group of pins or an ongoing campaign of pins that creatively focus on the brand. This is a joint partnership to help a brand with a marketing campaign on Pinterest.

The idea is that by working with a creator who knows their audience, the joint promotion will create a very original campaign that keeps the voice and feel of the creator while still acting as a great message for the brand.

Joint promotions are quite common on Pinterest and have often been extremely beneficial for both parties involved. If you show some creativity in your pins, it’s likely only a matter of time until you find some joint promotion offers.

Teach Your Knowledge

Do you have skills in growing others’ Pinterest accounts and followers? Do you’ve expertise in specific topics? Then, you can make a lot of money by teaching your knowledge.

When you have used all of the strategies that we have mentioned above you should be pretty good on Pinterest.

Pinterest can be a bit of a tough cookie to crack when you aren’t sure what you are doing.

Everyone knows the potential of Pinterest and will pay good money to learn about how to use Pinterest for success.

Let people know that you have had success with Pinterest and you will have people queuing up for advice.

If you’re skilled in any certain area, you can create e-books and courses to earn a good passive income.

For example, when you are great at making cakes, you can start making video tutorials with the help of online course platforms like Teachable.

You might be good at crafting, cooking, gardening, home decor, or whatever thing you may love to do. Gather your thoughts and then create a course around them to help people.

To make everything super easy, you can also use one of the online video-making platforms like inVideo or WeVideo to make videos without spending your money on huge PC software.

It would be a good way to make a profit from your knowledge. When your course comes alive, you can share it on Pinterest and as well as on other social media platforms.

There are a few ways that you can offer this advice in a way that you can monetize such as:

• Courses
• Books
• Consultations/Coaching

Have a look at what is out in the market already and browse through Facebook groups to see the common problems that people have with Pinterest.

This is a great work-from-home opportunity, and you could even run this alongside other side hustles such as proofreading.

Here are some of the best ways to make money by teaching knowledge on Pinterest.

Create and sell online courses: You can create and sell online courses on various topics, such as cooking, photography, or business. You can sell your courses directly on Pinterest by linking to your website product pages or through a platform like Udemy or Teachable.

Offer coaching: If you’ve expertise in growing following and brand visibility on Pinterest, you can offer online coaching sessions. You can find clients through Pinterest, your blog, or other social media networks like LinkedIn.

Write and sell ebooks: This is probably the best way to make money through knowledge. If you have skills in writing, you can write and sell eBooks on various topics. You can sell your eBooks directly on Pinterest or through other platforms like Gumroad. Content creation has become so much easier these days because of AI tools like ChatGPT, Jasper AI, etc.

Create and sell Pinnable infographics: Pinterest is ALL about appealing visuals, pins, and graphics. Infographics are a great way to share information in a visually appealing way. You can create and sell Pinnable infographics on various topics, such as fitness, lifestyle, business, and more.

Make Your Products

If you are a merchant, you can use Pinterest to sell your products. This is a huge marketplace for buyers.

Most people come to Pinterest to make decisions and purchases. From gifts to home decor and crafts, Pinterest is the top favorite destination.

You can set up a shop on Pinterest and add products to sell. If you sell physical products like clothes, jewelry, fashion accessories, and home decor stuff then Pinterest is your market.

Promoting products on Pinterest can be a great way to generate more leads and sales.

Pinterest has been increasing its focus on e-commerce – even coming out with new integrations for Shopify and WooCommerce. Many people have also seen success linking their pins to their products on Etsy.

Pinterest also introduced the Verified Merchant Program to help pinners find new, trustable brands to shop from.

Drive Pinterest Traffic To Your Product

This is probably one of the best ways to make money from Pinterest. The reason why is that you get the whole amount, not just a commission, if the customer buys your product.

So if you have a product or service to sell, follow this process:

• Set up a website/ blog
• Take a good picture of the product and list it on your site
• Create a pin with a picture of the product
• Drive traffic to your website and the customer will buy your product

However, you can also sell digital products using Pinterest. Here are the 51 best digital product ideas! You can even create a few digital products in less than a week, and start making money.

Help people shop the look

Pinterest is an excellent platform if you want to sell products.

Pinterest is where people find their favorite products. 40% of people will shop for something when they find something they love.

In simple words: most Pinterest users are super shoppers.

Pinterest offers a feature that allows shoppers to purchase products directly from Pins. This is a great way to make money if you have an online store.

The best part? You can use the “Shop the Look” pins option to tag up to 25 items in an image.

Here’s what it looks like;

As you can see above, you’ll post an image promoting products they are literally wearing or using.

This is an excellent way to show people how to recreate a specific look.

To create a Shop the Look Pin, simply Pin an image or video of the look, then tag the products you used. You can also use affiliate links to the products so you make a commission whenever your followers make a purchase.

It’s also similar to affiliate marketing but with individual products on individual pins. If you’re selling your own merchandise, you can use the same feature to sell your products.

But how to come up with ideas for “shop the look” pins?

The simplest way is to follow creators or brands who create shoppable content. Follow their boards if you’re looking for inspiration for your next look.

Make sure to promote such pins so you’ll be able to reach a wider audience.

Apply For Adsense (As A Beginner) And Then Mediavine (As An Intermediate Blogger)

If you’re displaying ads on your blog, you can use Pinterest to gain more visitors by posting creative pins.

When you’re a brand new blogger, you can always start earning money with display ads on your blog by applying for Google Adsense.

Adsense won’t pay you a lot, but it’s a good way to gain a little bit of experience online before making the switch to a better ad management network like Mediavine or Raptive.

The easiest way you can make money on Pinterest is to drive people from Pinterest to your blog and earn from adverts.

This means that every time someone views your blog … you get paid.

You get paid because there will be adverts on your blog that your audience sees… and advertising networks will pay for the privilege of having their ads on your site.

This sounds crazy but it’s true, as it is one of the ways I earn from my blog.

Here is a list of advertising networks you can sign up to for FREE:

• **Google AdSense-**No minimum pageviews
• **Pop Ads-**No minimum pageviews
• **VigLink–**No minimum pageviews
• Media.net- No minimum pageviews
• Ezoic- Minimum 10,000 pageviews
• Monumetic- Minimum 10,000 pageviews – Now they charge $99 for signup
• Mediavine- Minimum 50,000 SESSIONS*
• Adthrive- Minimum 100,000 pageviews

Sessions are a different metric from pageviews

As a blogger, you can display ads on your blog. You will earn money for how visitors react to them. Mainly, Google Adsense and Media.net platforms are popular among most bloggers.

But the truth is, you need more readers to make more money from using these methods. If you apply to these platforms with a low visitor count, your earnings will not be enough.

So here is the process you can follow:

• Set up a blog
• Set up Pinterest
• Apply for an advertising network
• Drive traffic from Pinterest to your blog and start earning from ads

Display Ads

While these are different from affiliate marketing, the tactics are the same and the two often go hand in hand. Many affiliate websites have direct affiliate offers mixed in with display ads. The idea with both is the same. Get quality traffic, and drive it to a monetized blog.

This is part of the reason that the two ways of making money off your blog work so well together. It’s also why we’re putting them in the same section for making money on Pinterest since the steps and methods are going to be the same.

Google AdSense

Yes, you can make money with Pinterest by displaying ads on your blog with Google Adsense.

When you’re a brand new blogger, I recommend applying to Google Adsense because they do not require you to have a minimum amount of page views.

The program most people start with is Google AdSense. AdSense is great to start because there are no minimum traffic numbers. This means you can make money on Pinterest even early on because after you set up your website with just a few good articles you can put AdSense on there.

Over time you’ll want to look at the other display ad options out there. AdSense is a good start. Most website owners find that other display ad programs end up providing much higher income for the same amount of traffic.

Many of them have traffic requirements. This makes AdSense an ideal start for display ads, but as your organic and Pinterest traffic to your website increases it will be time to look to upgrade.

Mediavine

Mediavine requires you to have up to 25,000 monthly sessions as recorded by Google Analytics. The blog also needs to be at least four months old. The jump in income from AdSense to Mediavine is often quite large. Commonly website owners describe anywhere from 3x to 6x daily earnings compared to AdSense.

The display ads are similar to AdSense but require a little bit of formatting and a WordPress plugin to function properly. The results often speak for themselves. 

I found the Mediavine engineers to be very knowledgeable and helpful. Even if you’re not very tech-savvy, they will help guide you through the process of setting up the ads.

In general, monthly I experienced a 3.5-4x increase in earnings over AdSense numbers. Here’s our full Mediavine Review.

Ezoic

Ezoic has emerged as an impressive display ad alternative to AdSense. Boasting of the use of artificial intelligence to figure out the best display ad setup for each website, many happy webmasters love the results they’re seeing with Ezoic display ads.

This Ezoic Review goes into a great in-depth look of this display ad program. 

It is also the display ad service that Spencer used for Owntheyard.com, the Niche Pursuits 4 site project.

Try Ezoic Right Here

Adthrive

Adthrive is known as a premium ad service. You need a minimum of 100,000 views per month on average before you can get with this display ad program. Many even very successful websites never make it to this point. But they are a highly regarded option you should be aware of.

Here is a Step by Step tutorial on how to set up a blog over one weekend.

Here is a great course that teaches you how to set up and be successful on Pinterest. Chelsea is an amazing mommy blogger who made $100, 000 from one of her blogs within 2 years, all due to the power of Pinterest!

However, if you are on a bit of a budget, this one is only $19 right now, at the time of writing. It’s run by Elna Cain, a busy mom of twins who has skyrocketed her traffic using Pinterest.

I have bought quite a few of her courses and every single one of them is good value.

Offer Services On Pinterest

Are you looking for the fastest way to monetize your Pinterest account? Do you want to make money on Pinterest without a blog? Try offering services on Pinterest.

Many websites and business owners need Pinterest services.

You can offer various Pinterest services, such as;

• Image (pin) creation
• Managing Pinterest profiles by engaging with other users, uploading images and hashtags
• SEO services such as keyword research and hashtag research for pins
• Growing Pinterest followers and the list goes on

Here are some practical tips for making money by offering services on Pinterest.

Offer free consultations: If you want to help others reach more followers, you can try one-on-one consulting services. If you’re getting started, offer free consultations so people get a taste of your services. Offer a free trial of your service or a free consultation ONLY to potential clients, not everyone.

Build relationships with others: You need relationships with other Pinterest creators to monetize your services. You can also follow other businesses that offer similar services and engage with their content. This is a great way to grow your brand on Pinterest and build relationships with potential clients.

Make your profile ready: Make sure to properly optimize your Pinterest profile by linking to your website (or services page). Include a compelling bio, high-quality images, and links to your website or contact information.

Use relevant keywords and hashtags. This will help people find your Pins when they’re searching for services like yours. Also, use proper hashtags while promoting your pins or services to find more relevant people.

Remember to be patient if you offer services. Building a successful service-based business on Pinterest takes time. So, don’t expect to see QUICK results overnight.

Pinterest With Your Email List

Email lists make a lot of money than you imagine. Now, you can make money on Pinterest with your email list.

What to do to earn money with an email list?

Step 1- Drive traffic from Pinterest to your website

Step 2 – Have lead magnets or email forms on your website to collect email signs. Offer a valuable freebie to the Pinterest traffic. For example, a free ebook in exchange for an email address.

Create email marketing funnels and nurture your subscribers.

If you don’t have an email list, you can build an email list with Constant Contact. It’s one of the leading email marketing service providers. You can enjoy your first month totally free and then only pay $20.

Step 3- Nurture your email subscribers and sell products

As you grow your email list, you need to provide extra value to your subscribers with emails. Then, you can establish relationships and sell products.

Email sales funnels help you make money with an email list. All these automated sales funnels make passive income with an email list.

If you want to learn about the sales funnel, I highly recommend getting this eBook on sales funnels. It’s simple to understand and follow.

You can sell low priced products and heavy ticket courses to your engaged email list subscribers. Many online businesses are growing their email list from Pinterest.

Because Pinterest users are active in making decisions and making purchases. If your product solves their problem, they will buy from you.

Get Pinterest traffic to eCommerce site and make money

As I said earlier, use Pinterest for your eCommerce site. Create blog posts or product guides and promote them on Pinterest.

The products are already listed on eCommerce sites. All you have to do is to promote your products and content on Pinterest.

Having relevant boards on Pinterest and a strategy in place will help you drive targeted buyers to your website.

Related ==> Pinterest SEO: The ultimate guide to use SEO for Pinterest

Tips for making money on Pinterest

Here are some final tips for making money on Pinterest;

• Pinterest is a search engine. The content you put in today can generate clicks a few months later. Do not give up on Pinterest too early. Just keep adding fresh content to your Pinterest account and keep building your statistics.
• Read and understand Pinterest analytics to create content that is a better fit for your audience. Apply different strategies to gain Pinterest followers.
• Follow Pinterest trends to see what’s trending. Unfortunately, this feature is only available to a few regions. So, if you have it, use it.
• Tweak your Pinterest strategy to experiment with new ideas and planning. Add more fresh content over old content to get more exposure on Pinterest.
• Create better Pinterest images that attract Pinterest users to click and take action.
• Always read guidelines and do proper affiliate disclosure with Pinterest affiliate marketing
• Pinterest is about consistency. The competition among brands and content creators is on the rise. Beat it out with Pinterest’s best practices.

MONEY ON PINTEREST WITHOUT A BLOG

If you don’t have a blog yet, don’t worry.

You can make money on Pinterest by placing affiliate links DIRECTLY on Pinterest

Up until now, I talked about how you can make money on Pinterest with a blog. 

So, yes, you can still make money with affiliate marketing on Pinterest without a blog. However, I still recommend starting one because a blog gives you so much more flexibility!

Also, beware of this approach because some companies don’t allow you to use direct affiliate links on Pinterest pins, such as Amazon.

So, research this before you plan to add any affiliate links to your pins that lead users directly to the product’s landing page.

I also feel that the blog approach converts better (that’s just my personal opinion) but things work differently for different people.

I suggest you test out what works best for you! When using direct affiliate marketing on Pinterest, be sure to disclose your affiliate relationship by using hashtags such as #affiliate or #affiliate link in your pin description.

Pros: You won’t have to write reviews or your own experience on a blog to earn a commission from a referral or affiliate link. Just simply create pins and enter your special affiliate link before publishing them onto the Pinterest platform.

Cons: It’s very hard (pretty much near impossible) to earn any commission with affiliate links alone without a following or blog post that describes your personal experience. The highest return usually comes with more effort (e.g. blogging), but the long-term commitment is worth it.

In addition to it being difficult to convince strangers to purchase products with your affiliate link, certain companies do not allow you to post your affiliate links directly onto a Pinterest pin. They want you to post your affiliate link on your blog.

Here are many ways to achieve this!

Post Affiliate Links Directly on Pinterest 

Use affiliate links on Pinterest and make affiliate sales directly from Pinterest. This is how you can make money on Pinterest with affiliate links.

There are many affiliate programs to join. You can join programs or products that are in your niche. That way, you will promote products your audience is interested in using.

That way, the Pinterest user will directly click on your affiliate link and if he/she decides to purchase, you make money.

However, there are several guidelines for using affiliate links on Pinterest. Some programs prohibit using affiliate links on Pinterest. For example, Amazon guidelines are still not clear about Pinterest.

I don’t suggest using Amazon affiliate links on Pinterest. However, many programs allow affiliate links on Pinterest.

Consider joining programs under these networks;

• ShareASale
• FlexOffers
• Rakuten Networking
• RewardStyle
• Etsy
• Awin
• Creative Market

There are many brands under these networks that you can join. Once approved, use the affiliate links on Pinterest.

1. Sign up to affiliate marketing networks (mentioned above)
2. Set up a Pinterest account
3. Create beautifully click-worthy pins, with SEO-optimized keywords
4. Include the affiliate link on the pin

Few key tips on making money with affiliate links on Pinterest;

• Add an affiliate disclosure on every pin you add on Pinterest. Use something like #sponsored #ad or #affiliate to disclose that you are using an affiliate link.
• Always read the guidelines of the affiliate program before you promote.
• Write a clear pin description with a pin
• Do not spam affiliate links on Pinterest. It’s a big NO NO.
• Do not cloak or shorten your affiliate links on Pinterest. Use the link as it is. 

Affiliate marketing on Pinterest takes time but it’s rewarding and profitable. You must understand the audiences before promoting affiliate products.

One of the most important things to do if you are considering Pinterest affiliate marketing is to familiarise yourself with the rules and guidelines. For example, you want to:

• Make it clear that all pins with affiliate links are disclosed (such as by including #ad)
• Be sure your affiliate programs and networks allow you to promote their links on Pinterest
• Don’t use URL shorteners like bit.ly

Read more in my post Affiliate Marketing On Pinterest: A Complete Guide to find out exactly how to choose what products to promote, how to add affiliate links to pins, how to correctly disclose affiliate links, tips for getting your affiliate links seen and clicked, and more!

Tips To Make Money On Pinterest

Now that you know a variety of ways to make money on Pinterest, here are some tips to help you hopefully get better results:

1. Have a strategy

Having a Pinterest monetization strategy is important if you want to see results.

For example, if you want to work with brands, you may want to create more Idea Pins to increase impressions and followers.

Or if you want to grow blog traffic and make money through that, you may want to write more blog posts with buying intent and use more Standard Pins (since as of right now, Standard Pins tend to be the easiest pin type to get outbound clicks from).

Having a strategy is going to be essential to get the results you are aiming for.

2. Be consistent

Consistency on Pinterest is really important for seeing growth.

The more you pin, the more chances you have to get traffic, grow your following, get impressions, get sales, and more.

You should publish at least one new pin per day. Some Pinterest marketers will say more, and some will do less. (But if you can do more, that’s great!)

3. Have a niche

Having a niche is not essential for success or making money on Pinterest, but not having a niche may make certain things more difficult.

For example, it may be easier to secure brand deals with certain brands if you consistently make content within their niche versus miscellaneous niches.

Or, if you have a loyal and niche audience, it may be easier to make affiliate sales by promoting products you know they are interested in.

Do you need a niche? No. But it can help!

4. Do keyword and trend research

Keyword and trend research is important for Pinterest because they help you find content ideas and to ultimately optimize your pins for Pinterest SEO.

Keyword and trend research is not as intimidating as it seems. There are so many ways that you can find keywords right on Pinterest.

My in-depth Pinterest keyword research guide will show you 7+ methods you can use to easily find Pinterest keywords!

There are also other tools that you can use to help you with Pinterest keyword and trend research. One of my favourites is Pin Inspector – an all-in-one, innovative software that makes finding amazing keywords easy! From my own experience, this tool has helped me find some and uncover great keywords that I don’t think I would’ve found on my own.

Tip: Don’t be afraid of long-tail keywords on Pinterest! Long-tail keywords are more specific keywords, and although they may get less searches, they are often easier to rank for and get more targeted traffic. I have seen some of my best results from targeting these keywords!

5. Optimise for Pinterest SEO

Pinterest SEO is essential for getting your pins seen. Pinterest SEO is the process of optimising pins, boards, and your profile with relevant keywords so Pinterest understands exactly what your content is about and distributes it accordingly.

This can seem intimidating at first, but once you know exactly what to do, it is very simple.

My free 20+ part Pinterest SEO checklist will show you exactly how to optimize your pins, boards, and profile step-by-step. Download the checklist for free below, or read the post instead here!

6. Know your target audience

Knowing your target audience is important because that will help you create content and a strategy aimed at reaching them.

For example, if you are selling water bottle stickers, you may want to create more content geared towards girls that are teens to young adults.

Your target audience should shape your approach to Pinterest marketing.

7. Use Pinterest Analytics to help form your strategy

Pinterest Analytics can really help to create an effective Pinterest strategy. When you look at Pinterest Analytics, you can see what your most popular content is – content that is engaged with most, that has the most saves, most outbound clicks, most impressions, etc.

In other words, you can see what content users like.

You can then use this valuable information to create more content like this.

Maybe you notice that your audience likes Idea Pins the most, so you create more Idea Pins. Or maybe you see that pins with the color pink perform better, so you create more pins with pink. Maybe you notice that your top pins show your face, so you create more pins showing your face.

This Pinterest tip can help you supercharge your growth!

How many followers do you need to get paid on Pinterest?

There is no exact answer for this. Since you don’t need a ton of followers to get your pins seen on Pinterest, you could start making money with affiliate links, selling products, etc. with a small amount of followers!

But, if you want to work with brands, brands may want to work with pinners who have a larger following.

However, you can start your monetization efforts with no followers!

Of course, this can be different for everyone!

How long does it take to make money on Pinterest?

Again, there is no exact timeline for how long it takes to make money on Pinterest, and it will likely be different for everyone.

Most Pinterest marketers believe that it takes at least 3 months to begin seeing growth on Pinterest and even up to 8 or 9 months to see significant results.

With that said, you can definitely expect it to take some time. Pinterest is not an overnight success type of platform. Instead, it’s more of a long-term game, but don’t give up too easily because the results can be worth it!

Additional Tips and Advice For Making Money On Pinterest

There are some additional things that you can do to make money on Pinterest which we will go through below.

Make sure you have a business account

This is a really important step to take if you want to work with brands.

The reason that having a business account is important is that it gives you access to analytics.

If you work with a brand it is likely that they will ask you for information from your analytics.

Switching to a business account is free and very quick.

Be active and pin often

Pinterest will reward you for being active on the platform and show your pins to more people.

They like to see people using the app by uploading pins and pinning from other accounts.

You will need to be pinning every day and uploading at minimum one new pin per day.

Treat Pinterest like the search engine it is (SEO everything)

A common mistake that people make on Pinterest is to forget how it is a search engine and not a social media platform.

The fact that it is a search engine means that there are different techniques and strategies that you can use to make your pins popular.

Make sure you use keywords (you can always get these from the suggestions when you type in a word) on your pins, boards, and profile.

Create beautiful looking pins

As well as doing SEO well on Pinterest, creating amazing looking pins is hugely important.

Say you are scrolling through your Pinterest feed and a pin makes you stop. Something about that pin got your attention – which is what you want to do with your pins.

You can use sites such as Canva, and Picmonkey or platforms such as Photoshop to create your pins.

Be sure to use a large bold font and stay away from the script-looking font which is hard to read.

Describe your pins as a superfan

This is a tip that we find works well for us. When you are filling in the description of the pin, you can do it from someone else’s point of view.

What I mean by that is that you can make it look like someone has tried out your pin and pinned it for themself.

If you write the description as if a super fan has checked out the article and is recommending it, other people will see this and be more inclined to click through.

Use Tailwind as your scheduler

It’s a well-known fact that pinning manually is great for your Pinterest account, but it means a lot of time on the platform.

One of the best ways to pin continuously is with a scheduler. Tailwind is the best one to use because it is a Pinterest approved scheduler.

Have a great looking media kit

A media kit is a pack that shows all of your business statistics and what you can bring to the table.

If you are doing work with brands then they will probably ask for your media kit.

It’s important that you have a professional-looking media kit. You can create it yourself or ask a graphic designer to put one together for you.

Always disclose your partnerships

This is something that’s really important to note when you are in business. You need to declare when you are working with someone.

This is whether you are working with affiliate links or on sponsored posts. It is a legal requirement that you declare when it is paid for work.

It’s easy to do on Pinterest because you can add the disclosure in the description of your pin.

Follow all of Pinterest guidelines and policies

To continue using Pinterest you need to make sure that you adhere to all of their guidelines and policies.

They are very strict about the people and content that go on their platform. If you want to use Pinterest to make money then you must follow these rules.

Stay on top of trends and changes on the platform

Unfortunately, social media and search engines do not remain working the same as they always have.

There are frequent algorithm updates and changes to how it all works, and it’s important to stay on top of this.

Pinterest may come out and say that they are encouraging you to do something, but then decide a few months later that this has changed.

To stay on top of your Pinterest game it’s important to keep up with all of the changes and perhaps adjust your strategy as you go along.

FAQs | Here are some FAQs on Pinterest monetization.

Can you get paid on Pinterest?

There are many ways to get paid on Pinterest, such as selling your merchandise, promoting others’ products, paid posts, sponsorships, etc.

How many followers do you need on Pinterest to earn money?

Your number of followers on Pinterest does NOT help you earn money from the platform. Unlike YouTube, Pinterest does not pay its content creators.

Does Pinterest pay you?

Pinterest does NOT pay anyone. To monetize your Pinterest account, you can sell your products or promote affiliate products through pins.

What are the best ways to make money from Pinterest?

Some of the proven ways to monetize your Pinterest account are;

– Promoting affiliate products

– Offering services

– Selling your merchandise

– Brand partnerships

Can you make money on Pinterest without a blog?

Yes, you can offer services such as image creation, managing a Pinterest account, profile optimization, etc. You can also try selling affiliate products to make money on Pinterest without a blog.How much money can you make on Pinterest?

Your time is valuable, so is it worth your time to learn monetizing strategies to make money on Pinterest?

How would you react if I told you you could make $20, $50, $100, or even more than $200 per day on Pinterest?

And nope, these side hustle ideas don’t require experience at all.

I started with absolutely no experience but eventually learned how to earn money with Pinterest during my spare time to make money online!

Overall, how would that extra cash help you? Would it help you pay off some debt, stop living paycheck to paycheck, or put a bit extra toward your vacation savings fund?

I know some people like making quick and easy money with the best survey sites like Swagbucks because it’s fast and completely free to use. I personally like it too for the extra $20 to $50 a month!

The extra money you earn with the top online survey sites won’t be able to replace your full-time job, however, the potential income you can make with Pinterest may just surprise you – it really did surprise me!

1. Is Pinterest a blogging platform?

First of all, we need to be clear here.

Pinterest is NOT a blogging platform.

It is a visual content-sharing platform, and it should not be confused with a blog. So, don’t get the terms, “blog” and “Pinterest” mixed up.

Yes, Pinterest allows you to post images, videos, and other types of content that lead to your blog, website, and even YouTube channel, but it does not provide the same kind of blog-publishing capabilities that sites like WordPress or Blogger offer.

Unlike a blog, Pinterest is not designed to host long-form content.

However, Pinterest is a useful tool to help bloggers promote their blogs and reach new audiences by allowing them to create pin images that link back to their blogs. That’s exactly how bloggers, like myself, get tons of traffic from Pinterest, which allows us to make money online.

It is a great way to share visuals and gain inspiration for your blog. With the right strategy, Pinterest can be a powerful tool for driving traffic to your blog.

2. How to use Pinterest for blogging?

Now that you are aware that you can earn money on Pinterest with a blog, I’m going to talk about how to use Pinterest for blogging.

As I mentioned, you can use Pinterest as a platform or channel to drive traffic to your blog. Because without traffic, your blog won’t make money.

The first and possibly the most important thing to consider when using Pinterest for blogging is to write blog posts on your website followed by a Pinterest pin, which you can use to promote your blog.

There are many different types of pins including the original Static pin along with their animated pins known as Video and Idea pins.

I create all three types of these pins for my Pinterest account (e.g. Static, Video, and Ideas), but I personally get the best results (meaning the highest blog traffic) by creating Static pins, which you can view, and follow my Pinterest profile here.

You should create attractive images, graphics, videos, and other types of visuals that will draw attention to your blog posts. On top of that, make sure your headlines and titles are click-worthy because they will ultimately determine whether or not your pins get clicked on and shared.

The more clicks you can get back to your blog, the higher your traffic from Pinterest. As a result, the higher your potential income as a blogger; but of course, that will also depend on what monetization strategies you use on your blog (e.g. display ads, affiliate links, sponsored posts, selling your own products, etc.).

I could honestly write over 10,000 words here on how to use Pinterest for blogging and how to promote it on Pinterest, but it wouldn’t make sense for me to type all of that into this single blog post here.

Instead, I covered this topic more in-depth in my other posts. These additional articles will walk you step by step and show you how you can use Pinterest as a blogger and earn an income with your website:

• How To Start a Blog on Pinterest (learn how I earned over $200,000 in a year)
• How To Start a Blog and Make Money for Beginners
• How To Get Traffic To Your Blog By Using Pinterest (learn how I get over 100,000 monthly pageviews)
• My Blogging and Pinterest Lessons Learned in My 4th Year of Blogging (And How I Earned $27,689.76 in One Month)

3. How many followers do you need on Pinterest to make money?

There is a huge misconception that the more followers you have on Pinterest, the more money you’ll make. This is a myth because more followers do NOT always mean more money!

I’ve seen a lot of Pinterest business accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers (e.g. more than 10,000 or even 20,000 followers), but they don’t make a lot of money. Some may not even make any money!

On the other hand, I’ve also seen accounts with 3,000, or even less than 1,000 followers who earn good money by using Pinterest and drive traffic back to their blog or page. These bloggers or business owners use various monetization methods such as display ads, affiliate marketing, writing sponsored content, and/or selling their own digital products.

If you’re a beginner at using Pinterest, and you’re trying to grow your followers, this is what you need to always keep in mind.

Attract high-quality traffic and the right people to monetize using Pinterest

It all comes down to attracting high-quality traffic (also known as the right audience or people) to your content and/or the products you’re promoting on Pinterest.

Attracting the right audience means you are bringing them to your blog post, video, or page that will immediately solve a specific problem they are currently struggling with.

Of course, the more followers you have, the higher the chances you may be able to leverage your authority and make more money by using Pinterest as your traffic source. Although your number of followers doesn’t translate to how much income you can earn, it doesn’t hurt to naturally grow your Pinterest followers over time.

4. How do you get 1,000 followers on Pinterest?

Growing your Pinterest followers to your first 1,000 won’t happen overnight.

When you’re new and just starting, I don’t recommend focusing on counting your number of followers on Pinterest. That will just distract you from creating quality content and gaining quality followers. Remember, you want to attract the right followers and not just any random follower for the sake of boosting your Pinterest numbers.

From my real and personal experience, you are better off with 900 followers who are true supporters compared to 10,000 followers who don’t even care about what you have to say, but are following you on Pinterest just for the sake of following you.

When you attract the right followers who are actually genuinely interested in you and your recommendations, you’ll stand a higher chance of making money with your blog by targeting the right audience. This is more intentional, and you’ll build more meaningful relationships that way.

Grow your Pinterest followers from scratch and make money over time

So, instead, this is what I did to grow my first 1,000 followers on Pinterest within 7-8 months with my newer blog and account WITHOUT leveraging my first Pinterest account.

This number will just naturally grow at a faster rate over time when you keep pinning and creating new content on your blog.

First, start a new blog, and post valuable content or blog posts regularly to build your brand and gain trust.

If you’re a complete beginner, you’ll want to follow everything taught in this ebook step-by-step, The Treasure Map To Blogging Success in 30 Days, to help you build your new blog from scratch and get it up and running as quickly as possible. This ebook is a detailed profitable roadmap for your blog and it will teach you how to get started on the right foot.

On top of that, make sure you promote your blog posts by creating beautiful and eye-catching Pinterest pin images like these ones here.

Once you’ve created your pin images, attach the link to your blog post and save (or pin) them to your relevant Pinterest boards. In order to get Pinterest followers and traffic to your blog, you need to promote your articles.

While you promote or pin or save your images using your Pinterest account (which links directly to your blog posts), I highly recommend creating new content at least once a week. Once that new blog post is published, don’t forget to promote that on Pinterest along with your older articles.

I personally wrote one blog post each week when I first started so that I could build up a collection of articles over time. It’s good to add one article each week to your collection so that you have more content to promote on Pinterest as time goes by.

Today, I don’t write as much, but instead, I promote all my timeless and evergreen articles that I wrote a few years ago.

You will need to come up with a pinning strategy and be consistent over time to see your followers grow naturally over time.

5. How many views do you need to make money on Pinterest?

The number of views you get on Pinterest doesn’t guarantee that you’ll make money. What’s more important is creating quality content that people enjoy and engage with.

Even if you don’t have a lot of views, you can still make a good income if your content is useful and interesting to your target audience. Having a smaller but highly engaged audience who share similar interests can be more valuable than having a large audience who aren’t very interested in your content.

Let me give you an example. I run 3 Pinterest accounts for my businesses that make me a full-time income. It’s surprising, but my smaller account actually earns me more money than my bigger one, even though it has a lot less views. To put things into perspective, my larger account has 550X more views and generates more traffic but less income! Crazy, right?

So, to make money on Pinterest, focus on creating great content that connects with your audience and encourages them to keep coming back. You can also offer products or services that match what your audience needs and wants to make some money.

6. Does Pinterest pay you for views?

No, Pinterest does not directly pay you for views. However, by driving traffic from Pinterest to your own website or blog, you can monetize that traffic through methods like display ads, sponsored content, or affiliate marketing.

7. How do I get noticed on Pinterest?

As mentioned earlier, building a successful blog and a solid Pinterest account doesn’t happen overnight, so it will take time to gain followers and get noticed on Pinterest.

Make sure to follow my tips from the section above on how to get 1,000 followers on Pinterest.

On top of that, while you’re creating your blog and building your Pinterest account, I recommend following other Pinterest accounts within your blog niche that are more established and have higher authority than yours.

That way, this will also give Pinterest an idea of what your blog or Pinterest account is about (e.g. sewing, home décor, personal finance, budgeting, travel, etc.). When Pinterest has an idea of what your account is about, it will recommend other users and pinners who are interested in those topics to follow you, hence growing your followers naturally over time.

8. Is it easy to make money on Pinterest?

The question, “is it easy to make money on Pinterest” is commonly asked a lot of the time, so I thought I’d just answer it here directly.

No one said making money on Pinterest is easy or a piece of cake. In fact, nothing in life is ever easy. Too many people try to search for “easy” ways to make money or “easy” ways to get rich, but I can tell you for a fact that “easy” does NOT exist no matter what kind of glamorous stories you hear online or in the media.

It actually requires time, effort, and dedication.

But of course, if you’re like me, who is super passionate and excited about learning how to use Pinterest to monetize your blog, then the progress will seem much easier because you’ll actually enjoy your journey of learning how to earn a full-time income online.

As mentioned earlier, I have my FREE Start a Profitable Blog Course here where I teach total beginners with no experience on how to start a blog and use Pinterest to earn money online.

9. Can you get paid on Pinterest?

There is no easy answer when it comes to “getting paid on Pinterest.” The platform does not currently offer a direct way for users to get paid for their pins.

However, there are methods that people, including myself, have used to make money from blogging, pinning, and using Pinterest.

One method, as already mentioned in this article, is to create pins that link back to products or services that you are an affiliate of. When someone clicks on your pin and makes a purchase from the linked site, you earn a commission.

Another method is to use Pinterest as a way to drive traffic to your own blog or website, which I’m a total huge fan of! This is the method that blew my mind when I started monetizing on Pinterest.

You can create pins that link back to your site and then use advertising or other monetization methods on your site to make money.

So, while you can’t directly make money from your pins on Pinterest (because Pinterest, the company, does not directly pay you), there are some indirect and great methods that you can use to earn income using this platform.

It just takes a little creativity and effort to make it happen, so I highly recommend starting your blog and using Pinterest to your advantage!

10. Can you make money on Pinterest by posting pictures?

You can’t make money on Pinterest just by posting pictures. But, you can earn in two main ways:

• Direct Traffic: Post images on Pinterest that link to your blog or website. When people visit your site, you can make money from ads.
• Affiliate Marketing: Share product images with your affiliate link. If someone buys using your link, you earn a commission. I’ve found it’s more effective to put these links on my blog than directly on Pinterest.

How many followers do you need on Pinterest to make money?

It doesn’t matter how many Pinterest followers you have. It’s possible to make money regardless. What matters is producing high-quality content so that your site ranks higher and people discover your brand.

Focus on creating content that is engaging and highly shareable, and the rest should fall into place. With that said, it helps to have more followers!

Can you make money on Pinterest without a WordPress blog?

Yes. If you aren’t into blogging and don’t have a website, there are still ways to make money on Pinterest.

One strategy is affiliate marketing. Another way is to help businesses and individuals market their services on Pinterest as a virtual assistant or SEO consultant. And if you’re into graphic design, you can create and sell templates or Pin designs.

Does Pinterest allow affiliate sales?

Yes, Pinterest currently allows you to use affiliate marketing links — a popular strategy for selling third-party eCommerce products.

Is Pinterest a good side hustle?

Pinterest can make a great side hustle if you are passionate about it and learn to master the platform. It takes a bit of work, but in time, you can make serious money.

You may even be able to generate passive income by selling templates, Pin designs, and products with affiliate marketing links.

What is Tailwind?

The Tailwind app is a third-party site that makes it easy to schedule posts for Pinterest.

When you link your Pinterest account to Tailwind, the company analyses your account and lets you know the best times to Pin for maximum engagement.

Simply put, Tailwind is a safe, helpful tool for automating scheduling and increasing engagement.

Can you make money from Pinterest without a blog?

Yes, there are several other ways to make money from Pinterest without a blog.

Affiliate marketing is the first method to earn money from Pinterest without a blog. You can use affiliate links to make money from Pinterest.

Even if you don’t have an established website, there is still a possibility to use Pinterest to earn a little income. But, having a website or blog will increase your chances of making a profitable business online thus making lots of money online.

Because, if Pinterest algorithms change or your traffic fluctuates, your blog will still be in a position to earn money from other ways. And, your credibility also strengthens with an established blog or website.

CONCLUSION: TURNING PINS INTO PROFIT

Making money is not an easy thing. It needs a little investment and effort to make things happen.

These ways are not only the ways you can use to make money on Pinterest. You’ll also learn to develop further strategies on your own when you become active on Pinterest.

So, can you make money on Pinterest? Yes, you can if you have a solid strategy. Many people use Pinterest effectively to make money online.

Some people sell their products, while others promote affiliate products to monetize their Pinterest accounts. Pick a monetization strategy, build your audience, and be consistent with your Pinning schedule.

Pinterest is a unique site that brings together all sorts of ideas from around the web in one convenient place.

Whether you have an eCommerce blog, use affiliate marketing, or showcase your handicrafts, you can earn extra money for doing what you love with the right Pinterest marketing tactics. What’s better than that?

Alternatively, if you genuinely believe in the long-term value of Pinterest, you can always pick up some $PINS stock.

At the end of the day, it’s going to take more than one income stream for you to reach true financial independence. At one point, I had 13 of them!

Yes, that’s how you can make money on Pinterest. You must have found tons of ideas to earn money with Pinterest.

Get back to work and start building your Pinterest account.

I suggest investing in a Pinterest course to understand how it works and follow the latest strategy. This will help you create a strong Pinterest strategy for yourself.

Don’t get scared to build a blog or website. Surely, there are ways to earn money on Pinterest without a website but you can do a lot more with a website.

What are your thoughts on using Pinterest to make money? Did you find this guide helpful? Have any questions on Pinterest monetization? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

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A quick recap for you;

• Use Pinterest to drive traffic to your website and make money with ads
• Use Pinterest traffic to make money with affiliate marketing on a website
• Offer Pinterest virtual assistant services and earn money
• Open a shop on Pinterest to make money
• Sell your own products on Pinterest to earn money
• Use affiliate links on Pinterest to make passive income

I hope that this post has been helpful in showing you some of the many ways that you can make money through Pinterest!

If you have any questions, be sure to leave them in the comments below.