How to Use Pinterest for a Photography Business

Did you read that blog title: how to use Pinterest for a Photography Business? Yeah, well don’t laugh at me, okay? I know that I may have been a Pinterest-Snapchat-blogging-SEO hater in the past, but I’ve seen the error of my ways friends. And while I’ll admit this post is just a wee bit ironic, I’ve made peace with the fact that these things are important for business.

So, here I am. Here you are. Here we go. Leave your whining at the door and grab a seat on my sparkly, pink, comfy Pinterest-Snapchat love couch. We’re doing this.

Right now, I’m going to tell you why Pinterest matters and why you need to be using Pinterest for your Photography Business!

Okay, before we get all into this thing, you should know a little something about me!

Today, social media is totally my jam. In fact, I am all about making social media accessible for you lovely creative business owners. I dive into new platforms and updates with my typical over-excitement, so I can figure things out and pass them on to you. However, I haven’t always been like this. In fact, I was like you.  I didn’t want to use all of these platforms, and I was far from what you would call an early adopter.

Truth be told, I spent lots of time kicking and screaming and dragging my feet like a whiny-two year old who can’t have ice cream at 8am. I didn’t want to have to keep up with a zillion different things, thought Snapchat was absolutely ridiculous, and couldn’t understand why anyone would use Pinterest for anything other than browsing for Game of Thrones memes for hours. For reals people, I have a “friend” who does that. It’s a thing.

I am telling you, these platforms are super important for photographers and other creatives trying to grow their businesses online. Does your brain want to explode?  Oh, sparkle, I can help you Pin for the Win!  Promise!

How to Use Pinterest for a Photography Business

The most common objection to using Pinterest for a photography business is that it’s hard to reach people in your local area, which is important for photographers. While it’s great that people three states away can see your images, that isn’t going to help you schedule shoots in your area. I hear ya’ on this one, but I promise Pinterest is worth your time. Here’s why.

1. Pinterest has the longest lifespan of any social media platform around.

Did you catch that? A pin’s lifetime is neverending. This makes it completely worth your time because years from now, Pinterest will still be sending people your way. Using Pinterest for a photography business, is absolutely a no-brainer!  If you have a blog {and you should… even though I hate blogging}, Pinterest is going to forever drive traffic to your website.

You know why that matters?

Because, the little Googlebot monster things we call SEO like it when lots of people come to your site from an outside source. Apparently, this makes your content seem important and valuable, which means the little monsters reward you with higher SEO powers. That’s a good thing for your business. I promise.

2. Pinterest helps you become a giver… and the world loves givers!

It’s true!  When you give from abundance, your clients will feel that – and it becomes easier to invest in your company when people already know, like, and trust you.  And that’s exactly why you’ve gotta be using Pinterest for your photography business!  Think about this: how many times do you post on social media asking for something:

“Book a mini-session”

“Now booking senior sessions”

“Sign up for my upcoming workshop”

You get the picture. If we aren’t careful, we can do a lot of asking, and without meaning to, turn people off. But what if you were giving all of the time instead of asking? What if you were providing amazingly helpful content to that big ol’ world out there? Then, people wouldn’t be annoyed, they would think you were awesome. They would be way more likely to believe that you actually know what you are talking about, because you’ve given them so much good content. Then, when you did ask, they would be like, “yeah, that girl knows her stuff and has taught me a ton, so I am going to sign up for a photoshoot.”

Pinterest is the perfect platform to be a giver. You can pin your own content and other people’s content. Then you can send your uber helpful boards out to your email list and provide people with helpful stuff. Pinterest is not super salesy and makes giving easy. So hop on and start pinning people, then share that goodness with the world.

3.  Connecting with other photographers on Pinterest can make your life easier!

Creating content and finding things to pin can be pretty overwhelming if you’re not blogging on a consistent basis!  That’s why it’s super important to be connected to other photographers online!  They can inspire you to create better boards and you can easily share their pins to your own boards!

In fact, I think this is one of my favorite things about Pinterest!  If you’re part of several group boards and a strong community of photographers… you can still reach A LOT of people, even if your own following is quite small!  Why don’t you start by connecting with me on Pinterest!  Then, I challenge you to go to your own Facebook page and invite your clients to follow you on Pinterest!  It’s really that easy to get started!

Using Pinterest for a photography business doesn’t have to be tricky… I can help you!

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. I don’t love Pinterest and Snapchat and blogging and all that stuff. But, these platforms make sense for my business so I’m going to use them and you should, too. I promise, it isn’t that hard and it is going to be totally worth it!

If this all seems a bit much for you, and you are like, “I still don’t wanna use Pinterest for my photography business and social media sucks” I’m here for you! In fact, I’ve got a free download that’s full of 30 social media posts for your photography business!

So while everyone else is whining about social media, you can be shining online and attracting new clients every single day!