I realize that I am not a typical Pinterest user, being a man and all. However, I am totally, one-hundred percent cool with Pinterest. In fact, the more I use it, the more I like it!
For women, it’s a no brainer, right? Most women already have binders of ideas for weddings, parties, home décor and fashion. Pinterest just took that online. For guys, it’s not such a smooth transition. I think for most men, scrapbooking, or pinning, is a foreign concept. Or at very least, a complete waste of good time that could be spent setting their lineup for the 5 Fantasy Football leagues they are in!
Well, I am here to say that Pinterest can be extremely useful for guys, and especially for male business owners. So if you are a guy, and are considering take the leap and signing up for Pinterest, keep these three things in mind.
Go Rogue
Pinterest initially turned me off because 99% of content on Pinterest is geared towards women. Greeting cards, clothes, recipes for their next baby shower… you get the idea. I suggest that you think about things that you are already into. Is it football? Golf? Music? Whisky? Wine? Boats? Traveling? Surfing? Exotic sports cars? Forget the suggested board titles that you are given and go rogue – name them after the things you are already interested in. If it’s 3 things, then have three boards. Less is more.
Blaze Your Own Trail
If you try to find good stuff on pinterest for your Golf or Whisky board, you will be sorely disappointed. This is where you’ve got to get off Pinterest and start surfing the sites that you love. If you are on ESPN and you see a great article about your favorite team, pin it. If you read an article about a 50 year-old Scotch Whisky you want to try, pin it. If you find the car you’ve always wanted, pin it. Go out there and start getting content that you like and putting it on your pin boards. Not only will this new content be more valuable on Pinterest, but you will be slowly creating a representation of who you are and what you enjoy.
Keep It Classy
If you are a business owner, or even if you aren’t, you have to keep it classy. Remember, this is public, so if a potential client or customer finds you on there, you have to think about how you would come across to them. If it’s inappropriate for a casual business meeting, it probably shouldn’t be on there. On the flipside, this is a great way to show off your business, so add a board for your business. Pin your blog posts in there, pin some videos that you have made and pin some graphics or logos that represent your company. Think of that board as a visual representation of your company.
Pinterest can start slow, but after using it for a little while, you will be able to see how valuable it can be for creating a visual representation of who you are as well as who your company is.
Want some examples? Check out KWSM’s pin boards or for a man’s pinboard, check mine out too!
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