Pinterest is definitely one of the online platforms that is perfect for all types of people. Pinterest is perfect for social media content creators, for marketers, business owners, and more.
And if you are looking to start making money online, then yes, Pinterest is the perfect place too!
I have already talked about how you can make money on your blog with the help of Pinterest. But what if you do not have a blog but you really want to make easy, passive income online?
Well, worry not because you can definitely use Pinterest to make money even without a blog and I will talk about it more in this post.
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8 Ways to make money on Pinterest Without A Blog
Yes, you can make money with Pinterest in different ways if you do not want to start a blog. If you are curious about how you can exactly do that and you want to learn how to make money passively online, then here’s how:
1. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing on Pinterest is probably one of the sure ways you can make money on the platform. And yes, you can do and use affiliate marketing without a blog!
If you are not aware of what affiliate marketing is, it is basically a way to earn money online wherein you will become an affiliate of a company or brand, and then you will earn a commission from marketing their products or services.
Each time a user purchases something using your own affiliate links directly, you will earn money! There are a lot of affiliate programs available. There are also a lot of affiliate networks out there you can join.
You can even just go to your favorite brand’s website and see if they have any affiliate programs available – it’s usually found at the footer of their website.
But now, let us talk specifically about how to do Pinterest affiliate marketing. Let’s say you are already an affiliate of a brand. The next thing you have to do is simply make a Pinterest account (preferably a Business account), then upload a pin on the platform promoting the affiliate products on Pinterest.
Then the next most important thing to do is to add your affiliate link on the URL field of your pin. Through there, Pinterest users will then see your pin, and if they click on your pin, they will be redirected to the website and you will start getting some affiliate sales and start making money on Pinterest!
Here is how you can create an effective and click-worthy pin on Pinterest.
2. Creator Rewards Program
Note: Pinterest has announced that the Creator Rewards Program ended last November 30, 2022.
Another way to start making money from Pinterest is by joining the Pinterest Creator Program! Through here, Pinterest will pay you just by creating and uploading content for the platform.
The Pinterest Creator Rewards is a program for Pinterest content creators to earn money on the platform by creating original Pinterest Idea Pins in accordance with the monthly reward goals created by Pinterest. Pinterest will then pay the creators directly in exchange for getting organic engagement to their pins.
3. Sell Physical Products
If you are an online business owner or you own an e-commerce store and you are selling physical products online, then Pinterest is a great place to market your business and get Pinterest traffic going to your website or online store!
One way to do this is to create several pins showcasing your physical products and make sure that you add each product URL to your pins.
Another method is to make your pins shoppable. Users on Pinterest can now directly shop on Pinterest! You just have to tag your products in your pins.
This makes it easier for Pinterest users to browse through your products without leaving the platform.
4. Sell Digital Products
We talked about selling physical products and now we will move on to selling digital products. The Pinterest strategy is basically the same if you are selling digital products instead of physical products.
Just make a pin about your digital product, feature an image, create a short but catchy call-to-action text, and add the URL of your digital product to your pin.
Using Pinterest is a free way to market and advertise your products without the use of ads or boosting services!
5. Market Your Services
Another method to earn money on Pinterest is by marketing your services on the platform. Yes, not just products but also services! I am talking about coaching services, marketing services, and more!
Pinterest is a great place if you are looking for leads or email subscribers if that is your goal and you want people to know more about your services.
Again, just make a nice, attractive pin with a catchy text in it, and add your landing page URL to the field provided.
6. Brand Partnerships or Sponsored Content
Once you get a pretty high amount of followers, you can then introduce yourself to brands and companies as a Pinterest influencer or Pinterest creator. Through this, you can get paid partnership deals and commissions just by promoting their products and services through a pin.
Don’t believe me that there are truly successful Pinterest creators out there? You can check here a list of influencers on Pinterest.
Another way to do brand partnerships and sponsored content on Pinterest is by using the Paid Partnership Tool that is available to all creators. Through this tool, you will just need to tag your brand partners in your pins with the tool and once the brand approves the request, their brand name will appear on your pin.
Rest assured, though, that even though you are using this tool, Pinterest will not be involved with the payment and the payment terms and process will still be between you and the brand.
To use the tool, you just need to make a Pinterest pin and go to the Advanced Settings menu to tag a brand in your pin.
7. Become a Pinterest Virtual Assistant
Another great way, if you want to make money on Pinterest, is by becoming a Pinterest VA! Basically, becoming a Pinterest VA means you will be handling your client’s Pinterest accounts and helping them reach their goals and success on the platform.
This job is especially perfect if you are someone with more than enough knowledge of how Pinterest works for businesses and creators, and how you can grow on Pinterest – the strategies, algorithm, platform updates, and such.
Becoming a Pinterest VA includes creating different types of pins, monitoring Pinterest analytics, giving suggestions and recommendations for your clients’ Pinterest Marketing Strategies, and more.
If you think this will be the perfect job for you, then why not start promoting yourself and your service on Pinterest itself?
8. Create and Sell Pinterest Pin Templates
If you are more on the creative side and you are good at graphic designing, then why not make pre-made pin templates from Canva or Photoshop (or any other image editing platforms)? This would be especially helpful for content creators and business owners who are having a hard time creating new pins from scratch each day or just do not have the time to make pins manually.
Since Pinterest is a visual platform, selling Pinterest templates that are eye-catching and pleasing to the eyes is most important. And where else to better promote your templates than directly on Pinterest itself?
I myself have my own Pinterest Pin Template Bundle for Canva that you can use 🙂
10 Helpful Pinterest Marketing Strategies to Monetize Pinterest Content
Sure, you can just keep on uploading pins and pray and wait for other Pinterest users to see your content. That could take days, weeks, months, or even years to build your following if that is only your strategy.
With that said, if you want some effective Pinterest marketing strategies so that your Pinterest account and pins become successful so you can make money through Pinterest, then I have here some helpful tips for you:
1. Create a Pinterest business account
Having a Pinterest Business account is highly beneficial if you are joining Pinterest as a content creator or business owner. By having a Pinterest business account, you will have access to your Pinterest analytics, Pinterest ads, and many more helpful features to make your pins go viral!
With that said, here is how you can create a Pinterest Business Account easily:
From Scratch:
- From the top-right of your screen, click Sign up
- Click Create a business account
- Enter your Email, Create a password and enter your Age
- Click Create account
- Fill out the fields to Build your profile, then click Next
- Fill out the fields to Describe your business, then click Next
- Select if you want to run ads, then click Next
- Select where you’d like to start or click the x icon to go to your new Pinterest business account
Converting Personal account to Business account
- Log into your personal Pinterest account
- Click the arrow down icon at the top-right corner
- Click Settings
- Click Account management at the left of the screen
- Under Account changes, locate Convert to a business account, then click Convert account
- Click Convert account
- Fill out the fields to Build your profile, then click Next
- Fill out the fields to Describe your business, then click Next
- Select if you want to run ads, then click Next
- Select where you’d like to start or click the x icon to go to your converted Pinterest business account
2. Create high-quality image pins or video pins
You have to always remember that the majority of the people on Pinterest are on the platform to look at beautiful and aesthetic photos. They love using Pinterest to search for wallpapers, inspiration, and the like.
With this, you have to make sure that the pins you publish are also high quality and beautiful enough to catch the attention of Pinterest users. I recommend using photos that are bright and your pin or video orientation to be vertical with a 1:2 ratio (1000×2000 px). If you are planning to add some text overlays, make sure you use bold text and bright colors that are easy to read.
If you do not know how to create a pin from scratch, there are always pre-made templates out there like my Pinterest templates and other free templates on Canva.
3. Implement keywords and Pinterest SEO
Another important thing to remember about Pinterest is that it is not just another social media platform. Pinterest is a visual search engine meaning people go on the platform to ask questions or look for something just as how they do with Google.
This means that you will have to incorporate relevant keywords to your pin title and pin description and do some Search Engine Optimization (SEO) research related to your pin topic. For example, if a user goes on the Pinterest search results to search for the words “Spring decor ideas”, and you have those exact words on your pin title, description, etc., then your pin will appear for them on the results page!
This is one sure way for Pinterest to show your pins and content to your target audience who will greatly benefit from your pins. Need help with SEO? Check out my course Pinterest SEO Traffic Secrets where I teach you all about Pinterest, the algorithm, and how to do Search Engine Optimization in the platform!
4. Create Pinterest boards
Pinterest boards are generally for organizing your pins and categorizing them to make your Pinterest account look clean and organized. But another benefit of Pinterest boards from the perspective of a business owner or content creator is that Pinterest users will stay longer on your Pinterest account if they find boards that interest them.
Another great reason for adding Pinterest boards is that you will most likely use related keywords to your board title names which will then make your Pinterest boards appear on the search results!
Here is how you can create a Pinterest Board easily.
5. Optimize your Pinterest Bio Account
Still on the topic related to keywords and SEO, I also recommend using relevant keywords to your Pinterest profile name and Pinterest bio. You can take my own account as an example. Yes, I have my name and branding in the first part of my account name “Anastasia Blogger”, but after that, you will also find several other keywords such as Online Business Tips and Blogging for Beginners.
The same goes for my account bio. You will see there several keywords that are related to my niche like blogging, affiliate marketing, and more! Adding keywords to your profile is important because, first, it helps users identify what your content is, and second, you will appear on the search results suggestion bar when Pinterest users are searching for specific keywords!
6. Study your Pinterest Analytics
If you are on a Pinterest business account, then you will have access to Pinterest Analytics. This is a very important and helpful tool if you want to be successful on Pinterest. Through Pinterest Analytics, you will see there important metrics that will help you determine if your Pinterest marketing strategies are working.
You will see there which pins do well on your account and which boards are also the most viewed. This is helpful because you will know which type of pins and topic works best for your account and which pins you need to improve on. For example, it would be very helpful as an online business owner which pins get the most link clicks toward your website.
Pinterest Analytics will show you your Pin Impressions, Saves, Link clicks, and more. You can study more about Pinterest analytics through my post here.
7. Repin other pins and interact
If you are just starting out and you do not have that much content to pin and upload, then it would be helpful for you to grow your account by repinning other pins to your boards.
This will add more content to your profile and also makes you seem like a consistent user / pinner in Pinterest’s eyes. And while you are at it, try to interact with other pins that are related to your niche.
You can comment on pins or send messages to other Pinterest users. This is a great way to grow your following and connect with people who have the same niche or business as you.
8. Be Updated with Pinterest Algorithm Changes and New Features
Pinterest is an ever-changing platform just like any other social media platform. They keep on developing and releasing new features that creators must take advantage of.
This is because once Pinterest releases a new feature, it will give a boost to pins or content that uses that new feature. For example, before, when Idea Pins were released, they really boosted a lot of content that uses Idea Pins.
Being updated with Pinterest’s updates and algorithm changes will help you make the necessary changes to your Pinterest marketing strategy so you will not be left behind by the platform and its users.
Curious about what is going on with Pinterest lately? You can check my 2024 Pinterest Update post.
9. Pin Consistently at The Best Times
Being active and consistent on Pinterest is a huge factor to help Pinterest decide whether they will give a necessary boost to your pins and account. I would recommend pinning about 10 pins per day (including repins).
Depending on your time zone or target audience, I recommend pinning on the best times when users are most active. Ideally, it would be in the morning or evening when everyone is home from work. To dive deeper into this topic, you can check my post about how often you should post on Pinterest.
If you know that you can’t find the time to always pin and be online on Pinterest, then the platform has its own Scheduler where you can schedule up to 30 days in advance.
I also am a huuuuge supporter and user of Tailwind. Tailwind is an authorized Pinterest scheduler where you can schedule pins in bulk. What I like about Tailwind is that it recommends the best times to schedule your pin!
10. Try Pinterest Ads (completely optional)
If you do not mind spending a few cents to have your pins boosted to other users’ home feeds, then you can try using Pinterest Ads. The good thing about Pinterest Ads is that the fee is relatively cheaper than any other social media site.
Again, you need to have a Pinterest Business Account to be able to use Ads. You must also take note that Pinterest Ads is currently only available to a few regions. If you want some tips on how to use Pinterest Ads wisely, then you can view my post on how to advertise on Pinterest.
Final Thoughts: Using Pinterest to make money
I love Pinterest because it can offer and help you with a variety of things! If you need traffic to your blog, then that platform is one of the best at its job. And if want to make money with Pinterest without a website, then you can do it too!
Being successful on Pinterest so you can consistently make passive income is not rocket science. Again, you just need to follow the strategies I showed and just be consistent and active on the platform.
I wish you luck!
I’m Anastasia and I’m a full-time blogger, online entrepreneur, and Pinterest marketing strategist. I help digital entrepreneurs and bloggers drive targeted traffic from Pinterest either through my online courses or through Pinterest consultancy.