10 Small Business Tips and Tactics for Pinterest

Pinterest – the hot new social media network – is starting to catch the eye of many small business owners. And the reason is simple: It’s a great new way to drive traffic to your website and create leads for your business. Here are ten tips and tactics for small business success on Pinterest.

Executive Summary

By Daniel Kehrer

Pinterest – the hot new social media network – is starting to catch the eye of many small business owners. And the reason is simple: It’s a great new way to drive traffic to your website and create leads for your business.

In fact, the early read on Pinterest is that it’s more effective in some cases than Facebook. And growth on this social sharing site, which is free to use, has been phenomenal. Pinterest has skyrocketed to become the fifth biggest social site, ahead of Google+ and LinkedIn.

Pinterest is a highly visual site, based in large part on sharing images, along with other content.  The platform lets users visually share things they’ve found online by “pinning” an image, article, video or other item to their own “pinboard.”  Users often create collections of “pins” around a theme of some kind. They can either pin things they’ve found on the web, or upload their own images. You’ll also see the Pinterest button showing up on websites as a way for visitors to quickly “pin” an item, which might also be a simple URL.

Some small businesses that rely heavily on website traffic to increase sales are reporting a surge of traffic now coming from Pinterest. Susan Lyne, CEO of the popular shopping site called Gilt.com, which offers designer goods at a discount, says her site has gotten a big boost from Pinterest. In part that’s because Gilt has lots of high quality images of the items it sells, which is the kind of thing people like to pin on Pinterest.

Here are ten tips and tactics for small business success on Pinterest:

·         Although it’s already become the fastest growing social network of all time, Pinterest is still technically in “beta” so when you go to sign up you must request an invitation to join. But don’t worry, it’s all but automatic that you’re in.

·         Pinterest doesn’t yet provide a connection to Facebook business pages, so if your business is on Twitter, be sure to use the same email address you use for your business Twitter account to sign up for Pinterest. You’ll be able to sign in with your same Twitter login.

·         Write a detailed “About” description of your business, using appropriate key words and geographic locations so you’ll show up in search.  Also make sure the button marked “Hide your Pinterest profile from search engines” is OFF.

·         Link your Pinterest account to other social media – especially your Facebook page and Twitter account – and link it to your business website. But keep in mind that Pinterest was designed for individuals, not businesses, so there’s really no such thing yet as a Pinterest “business page.” Just think in terms of using the site as a person, rather than a business.

·         Your main activity on Pinterest will be to set up various “pinboards.”  You’ll gain traction for your business by organizing and naming them according to the types of products and services you sell. You should create these first, before you start trying to build your Pinterest following. As with Facebook “Likes” and Twitter followers, you’ll want to build a loyal follower base on Pinterest by catering to topics that people are passionate about.

·         Once you are on Pinterest, add the Pinterest follow button to your business website, blog, social media pages and even your printed materials. This is a good way to jumpstart your Pinterest presence.

·         Focus first on visual content. Remember, Pinterest is a heavily visual medium, so you’ll want to use your best stuff here. If you have great product shots, that’s one option. Some businesses are pinning photos of their employees and location.

·         So far, Pinterest users have been more heavily female (about 65%), so keep that in mind as well.  If your customer base is mainly men, Pinterest might not be right for you just yet.

·         If you have a blog and are using strong photos there, make a habit of putting them on your pinboard as well. You can also pin charts, graphs and other graphics.

·         Follow the same social media “rules” you’d follow elsewhere. For example, concentrate on making yourself a valuable resource to others rather than trying to overtly sell

Top 10 Sales Tips

Sales can be a melancholy job. On one hand, many people (especially nonsales people) feel that it’s sleazy and lowbrow. On the other hand, it can be the most important function of a business. Until there’s a sale, there is no business. Personally, I’ve gone from thinking the former to believing the latter and honing my skills over a decade to where today I am effectively the chief sales officer of Teracycle. I don’t know exactly when this transition happened, but it took me a few years to embrace the power of sales the way I do today.

I recently wrote a friend who is starting a nonprofit and suggested that the role of a company leader is to become the chief convincing officer. In the end these two titles are synonymous, because selling is really the art of convincing someone to believe and buy into your concept, whether by buying your product or service or by investing in your company or by working for your company.

Here are my top 10 sales tips, all of which have served me and our staff — including Jo Opot. pictured above — for years:

1.       You can sell only if you yourself are convinced: If you are not sold on the product or service, it will be an uphill battle to sell someone on else. Your lack of conviction will scream through.

2.      Be clear and direct: When pitching do not use complicated diction. Pride yourself instead on being able to explain the concept as quickly, clearly and simply as possible. This is important because the biggest problem in sales is client confusion. Confusion does not lead to a Yes.

3.      Pressure is an art: Creating FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) in your client’s mind can be a good thing because it will lead to serious consideration of your concept. In the TerraCycle world, we award brand exclusivity by country and by category. I often need to tell potential clients that their competition is also talking with us. The trick is to mention this once and to NOT rub it in, which is likely to anger them. No one who is angered into saying Yes.

4.      Know your client: Make sure to research your potential clients, know their challenges and their needs. One size hardly ever fits all, and you look much stronger if you care about the business enough to invest in the research. I can’t tell you how many times I get cold calls from sales people who don’t even know what TerraCycle does.

5.      It’s all about the presentation: Building an amazing deck is critical to the sales process. Practice it, memorize it and be prepared to shift your emphasis based on how the energy changes when you give the presentation. Internally, we always ask ourselves: “Is the flow of this deck right? Will it convince?”

6.      Be passionate and exciting: Most presentations are BORING! So create a show and make it exciting. Excitement is contagious – just like a yawn.

7.      If you don’t know the answer, do not guess: People will ask you tough questions, and you may not always know the answer. The person asking you may be testing you, knowing the answer full well. And if you fumble, it’s very hard to rebuild credibility. Do not guess.

8.       Answer questions directly and clearly: If you are asked a question and you give a “politician’s answer” – in other words, if you don’t answer the question – your credibility will decline, and you will hurt your chances of making the sale.

9.      Humor is a great lubricator: Funny stories always break the ice. Instead of using business cards, everyone in our company uses stamps (see right) to leave our contact info. It’s eco-friendly, it never runs out and it makes for a nice ice-breaker at the beginning of every meeting.

10.      You can always be better: Sales is an art, not a science. Which means it’s never perfect and can always improve. TerraCycle has a standard sales deck most of our associates use. We’ve gone through 94 versions in the last three years and version 95 is around the corner.

by TOM SZAKY