BlogPaws

Using Pinterest for your blog: Part 1

2012-02-23T05:00:00-08:00

Guest Post by Dawn Miklich afFURmation

You may have heard of Pinterest, it’s the newest social media platform that’s becoming hugely popular. On Pinterest, you can “pin” or upload pictures or videos to a “board” under your profile. Pinning is done easily by using a browser button in Google Chrome, entering the url of the site you want to pin from or using the “Pin it” button on the site you wish to pin from. It’s a great way to save and share interesting things from around the web.

So where does the “social” part of this social media come in? Along with pinning items you find around the web, you can look through other people’s pins on Pinterest and repin those pins to your board. If there’s someone whose pins you like, you can “follow” the board the pin is on or follow all their boards. Any boards you follow will show any new pins added to them in your Pinterest stream making it easier for you to see any potential new pins for your boards. If there is a pin you really enjoy, you can “like” it or leave a comment for the pinner. You can also share your favorite pins on Facebook or Twitter.

Sounds interesting, but how can a site where people plan weddings, design their dream home and pin more chocolate recipes than I will ever have time to make (or eat, but I’d be willing to take that as a dare) benefit a blogger? While it might not be for everyone and every blog, there are several ways a blogger could take advantage of Pinterest.

For Post Ideas

Post ideas can show up anywhere- reading news online, visiting another blog or even looking at pins on Pinterest. Make a board for post ideas, then pin these links to use for future posts.
Along with looking through pins of people you are following, you can find post ideas on Pinterest by looking by category or searching by putting a hashtag in front of your search term to pull up any pins people tagged with that term.

To Bookmark

Bookmarks are a great way to save links you’ll need later, but often the title isn’t a big help in remembering what or why you bookmarked a link. Pinning a picture from the site gives a visual reminder plus a description can be added telling you why you pinned it.

Some ideas of what you could bookmark-

Bookmark books you might like to read and review on your blog.
Keep references you’d like to refer back to.
Save articles, like blog how to articles, together on one board to make them easy to find and access.
Save your favorite blogs on one board.

For Contests

You could run a contest using Pinterest. Pick a theme and have your readers create a board using that theme. Or have them pin their favorite post from your blog.

You can see Pinterest is more than just a place to post pretty pictures. Watch for Using Pinterest for your Blog Part 2 for ways to get traffic to your blog.

To learn more about Pinterest, visit my Pinterest Posts board for links to posts from around the Internet.

Dawn Miklich shares her home with a variety of critters including dogs, cats, ferrets, parrots and a bunny. She blogs about pets at afFURmation and pins a lot of stuff on Pinterest.

Wordless Wednesday Show us Your Pets

2012-02-22T06:00:00-08:00

Submitted by Kelly Kaliszewski

Submitted by Kathy Adams

Submitted by Ashani Unamboowe

Next week while a portion of the BlogPaws Team is making their way through the thousands of Booths at Global Pet Expo in order to find some really awesome opportunities for all of you we thought we would do something a little different for Wordless Wednesday. Instead of featuring your pets we are going to be featuring special need animals or foster that never seem to be chosen to go to a new home looking for a home. If you know of an animal whether dog, cat, ferret, duck, or horse that you would like us to feature please email the pictures (as an attachment) and information on the animal and where someone could go to adopt it (email address, link to Petfinder or other website with information, and any special information you know about the animal). We know that means the post will not exactly be Wordless but we feel it is for a good cause and something a little different. PLEASE email Felissa twolittlecavaliers{@}gmail{.}com using the subject Special WW by Monday at noon eastern time. ***This opportunity is for animals awaiting adoption that need more help getting their story out there not those you have already adopted.*** Not every animal that gets sent to us to feature will be featured on BlogPaws we can only choose at most 4 or 5 to feature next week. As always if you have cute pictures of your pets that you would like to share for possible inclusion in a future Wordless Wednesday please visit the BlogPaws Community Center and upload them there.

Pinterest and the Issue of Copyright

2012-02-14T08:30:54-08:00

by Yvonne DiVita

Love Pinterest? Having fun pinning lots of good stuff? Are you crediting the originator of that 'stuff'? Really? Maybe you are...maybe you aren't.

I just started my Pinterest account a week or so ago. It's very fun, yes. And, folks who know me know I seldom say 'very'... but, this is 'very' fun. Not only do I enjoy adding my own pics (from my own blogs or my home computer), I enjoy sharing yours. Many of yours. And, many from other people I don't even know. Oh my!

As I started sharing pics from people I discovered by visiting a pinterest account of a friend, I began to wonder... does Pinterest carry the originator's info forward? On Facebook this week, our own Dorian Wagner (I say 'our own' because she has been a BlogPaws member from day one, I think - but she doesn't belong to us, she belongs to herself), posted a note asking this very question:

Dear everyone: You know you can post links to pins on Facebook, right? The picture shows up and all! I'm already tired of everyone saving the pictures and posting them on their walls as their own. There needs to be some Pinterest etiquette -- kind of like how you retweet a tweet you like, not just copy/paste it as your own.

Following Dorian's question, I found this article on the issue of copyright and Pinterest: Is Pinterest a Haven for Copyright Violations from Hubpages. WRitten by the Greekgeek, she writes, "Pinterest is fun! And the site looks fantastic. Most Pinterest members are conscientious about giving a credit and a link back to the source. That gives it a little free PR. So everything's hunky dory, right?"

The answer is NO, a big resounding NO!

The Greekgeek writes, "What happens if you violate someone's copyright? Most artists and photographers are too nice to sue, and will simply request that you remove the copied work. However, a copyright owner can sue for damages, as one website discovered. That website paid $4000 in damages for a $10 stock photo they had used without permission, even though they removed the photo promptly after receiving a takedown notice."

It may seem like a small issue - after all, my pinning something of yours drives traffic to your blog or site, right? Well, not if Pinterest isn't crediting you and I don't, either. Even a Creative Commons license requires "credit and a link back." It's called citation, folks. Just like in the old days of print when you had to show where you got your content.

Hubpages has a good overview on using Pinterest here.

And, because there is always an opposing view, Greekgeek shared this link to "Why Photographers Should Stop Complaining About Copyright and Embrace Pinterest."

As a last note, the controversy on Pinterest using our links (we who have accounts) to generate funds in an affiliate account is covered here, by Tricia on My Unpopular View of the Pinterest Links.

Makes you think twice about your Pinterest account, doesn't it? Any thoughts on these issues?

Nine Ways LinkedIn Can Help Pet Bloggers

2012-02-13T05:30:00-08:00

Guest post by Carol Bryant

We’re all busy, social networks abound, and the choices by which to spread a message, mantra, or muttering are plentiful. That stated, LinkedIn is a great tool to explore for professional message building and branding, growing a business-oriented network, and/or establishing oneself as an expert in a particular field.

If any of the following statements have crossed your mind, LinkedIn might be something worth exploring:

“I can’t find professional like-minded people with which to network.”
“I like Facebook, but I wish there was something similar with a business feel to it.”
“If only there were groups that shared my interests, views, and/or thoughts.”
“I have so much knowledge about pets. I wish there was a way to share it.”
“I’m looking for a new job, freelance gig, or just to spread the word about my blog.”

What is LinkedIn? Touting itself as the world’s largest professional network, there are presently 120 million members on this business social networking site that launched in May of 2003.

How can LinkedIn help a pet blogger?

Groups: Join one or start one. Looking for fellow pet writers? Pet industry experts? Dog rescue people? Explore the groups section to request membership to a variety of discussions in one of thousands of professional groups. Some groups have open membership and others are members only, the latter which you can request to join.
Connections: The more one adds connections, the more times a profile can be seen by hiring managers, companies, and human resource departments, and like-minded people.
Own A Blog: Make blog ownership part of your profile. Owner, writer, creator, CEO of Best Pet Blog Ever: Tell the world via LinkedIn profile page.
Skills on Display: Showcase areas of expertise. Knowing Wordpress, Blogger, and other blogging platforms are all skills. Put them on display in a LinkedIn profile.
SEO assistance: Looking for words to incorporate into press releases, blog posts, and other forms of professional communication, or perhaps a resume? Search for professionals in similar professions, aka bloggers, and peruse the landscape.
Answer a Question: Part of LinkedIn’s many features is its LinkedIn Answers forum. Ask questions regarding a specific topic or industry and/or become an expert in a particular topic.
Job Search: If looking for work is on the agenda, browse the LinkedIn offerings by a variety of fields, such a region, industry, or job function. There is also a paid version of Job Search.
Competition Monitoring: Network updates provide feeds of connections and their friends, their groups, as well as recommendations made. When people switch jobs or add a title to their profile, this is all easily accessible.
Sense of Community: Blogging and writing in general can be isolative. Connecting with like-minded people who are going through similar trials and tribulations fosters a sense of community and makes the writer’s blues dissipate.

Learn more by Googling “LinkedIn tutorial,” to see if LinkedIn can become part of the chain that is a pet blogger’s ever-expansive social media network.

Carol Bryant has traveled with dogs for over 18 years and is touted as a dog product and travel expert. A frequent media contributor, Carol has appeared on Animal Radio and Oprah Radio’s Gayle King Show, WBAL-TV, News12CT, and as a guest speaker at conferences and seminars about social media, writing, dogs and dog travel. She is also a two-time nominee from the Dog Writers Association of America. Visit her blog at www.fidoseofreality.com and the FIDO Friendly magazine blog at www.fidofriendly.com/blog, winner of the Best Dog Blog from Dogtime Media.