Leveraging Your Pinterest Power

I make no secret that I adore Pinterest.  Do you follow any of my boards?  I have over 3000 followers now and it's become my favorite source of creative inspiration  Here are my suggestions for making the best of your Pinterest pin collection.

1. Keep your boards small and specific. If I want to look through your boards, I want to be quick. 200 pins on a "Fall Quilts" board is interesting.  6,000 pins on a "Quilts" board is a lot of noise to work through.  I will probably never make it to the bottom.  You will probably forget what you have on there.

My own rule is to try to split boards once they get much over 200 pins.  I have a Halloween board that's over 600 pins now.  Last weekend I separated all the "Halloween Crafts and DIY" pins and put them on their own board.  If I have a chance this weekend, I will probably separate out Halloween recipes or Halloween decor.  It takes a little time to move pins, but the results are worth it.

2. Review and edit your own boards.  Lots of duplicate pins are a sure sign that you're not really interested in your collection - so why should I follow you?  Pinterest now has a warning message when you've already pinned something, so this shouldn't be the problem it was in the past.  Duplicates that are spaced far apart on a board are forgivable, but if I see them at a casual glance, it tells me that the pinner never looks at their own boards or never bothers to edit.  Not worth my time.

3. Edit the comment when necessary.  Comments help you and others find the perfect pins.  Here are some examples of useless comments:

• Hey Nancy!  We should make this!
• I love this!
• flikr 38r.62sqsitl
• . (the single period used in place of a comment when you can't think of what to say.  I admit I was guilty of this in the past.)
• #using #loads #of #meaningless #hashtags.  Pinterest has an excellent search function which will find words and even strings of letters without hashtags.  They are obnoxious.  Don't use them.

Look at this beautiful board with clean and (for the most part) useful comments: http://www.pinterest.com/hadarmarom/embroidery/

4. Link back to the Source. Nothing is more annoying than clicking on a pin and finding a dead end.  If you are pinning it yourself, pin from a page, not an image.  If you are repinning a pin, check that the link works.  If you find a great recipe, don't post the whole recipe in the comments, link back to the blog or website where the recipe appears.  Give the creator of the content the credit they deserve!  If you are pinning from a blog post, pin from the specific post, not the home page of the blog.

5. Stay legal.  Copyright laws protect artists and writers.  I am particularly sensitive to creators of patterns, since that is what I deal with often.  For example, I see a lot of cross-stitch patterns which have been scanned from printed material.  The designer does not get the profit they deserve from the sale of that book or leaflet.  We want designers to stay in business and keep creating, and Pinterest can kill that.  If you suspect a pattern or work is under copyright, don't repin it. 

Pinterest is a wonderful playground if you stay organized and keep your boards focused. Leave me a link to your boards in the comments so I can follow you.