If you haven’t heard about Pinterest yet, here’s how it works…

People “pin” images into categories called “boards”. Think of it like a virtual corkboard or scrapbook of magazine clippings. Women have been doing this for ages when redecorating a home or planning for a wedding.

Pinterest just makes it virtual, conversational and viral, which makes it a very attractive marketing tool for businesses.

For example, this hairstylist’s traffic catapulted to more than 10 million pageviews in five months once she started sharing her photos on Pinterest. Amazing, huh?

Folks are getting really excited about the possibilities with Pinterest.  But the real question is – should you use it?

I think the answer boils down to asking a few simple questions:

• Is your target audience using Pinterest?
• Do you have something visual to share?
• And finally, how does this fit into my overall strategy?

Let’s dive into each of these questions a little further to see if Pinterest is right for you.

Is your target audience using Pinterest?

To determine the answer, let’s look at user demographics. In general, women ages 25-44 are the predominant users of Pinterest. Some stats are saying that the number of female users could be as high as 97%.

If you dive in a little further, data from Ignite Social Media shows that 60% of users have at least some college education and have an annual household income, on average, of $25,000 to $75,000. And, Pinterest’s core user base appears to be in the heartland of the U.S. in states like Missouri, Kansas and Minnesota.

Does that sound like your people? If so, Pinterest might be a good option for you.

Do you have something visual to share?

Pinterest lives and breathes off of sharing images. So, you must have a visual-based business for Pinterest to work to work for you. For example, it would be difficult for an attorney or a financial planner to use Pinterest well.

Although product-based businesses are a natural fit for Pinterest, a number of service-based businesses can really thrive on the network. Here are some ideas:

• Photographers
• Interior designers and architects
• Artists and craft-makers
• Stylists (of any type – hair, makeup, clothes)
• Graphic designers
• Chefs, restaurants, dietitians – anything food-related
• Fashion consultants
• Wedding planners
• Realtors
• Physical trainers

The list could go on and on. But, the bottom line is that you really need to think about what images you can share that really represent you and your brand.

If you don’t have anything visual to share, then Pinterest isn’t for you.

How does this fit into your overall strategy?

The tricky thing about social media is that it’s really easy to get obsessed with shiny object syndrome. But, like any endeavor, you must determine your goals for using Pinterest and how it would fit into your overall marketing strategy.

To do that, you need to consider how Pinterest would help you reach your business goals.

Do you want it to drive traffic to your blog? Raise awareness about your brand? Listen for trends? Whatever it is, make sure you know what you want Pinterest to do for you before you dive in,

Also, you also must consider if you have the time and budget for adding a new social network to the mix. If you’re struggling to stay on top of your other social media efforts, perhaps adding Pinterest may not be helpful to you at this point.

Using Pinterest Effectively

If you’ve answered these questions and feel that Pinterest is for you, here are some great articles that will help you come up with some ideas for how to use Pitnerest effectively:

• 7 Examples of Brands that Pop on Pinterest
• Pinterest: Everything You Need to Know in this Massive Post
• Three Ways to Use Pinterest for Business
• 7 Ways to Use Pinterest to Promote Your Business

Are you using Pinterest for your business? Have you seen any good examples of businesses using it effectively?

If you don’t know Gini (is that possible?), she’s the founder and CEO of Arment Dietrich, the author of Spin Sucks, the founder of the soon-to-be-launched Spin Sucks Pro, and co-author of the forthcoming Marketing In the Round.

And, it’s only fitting that she’s here today because it’s here birthday!!! So, after you check out her awesome interview, please head over to her blog or Facebook page and wish her a very happy birthday!

I don’t recall when I first came across Gini online, but I know I’ve been an avid reader of her blog for quite some time. I really appreciate her smart and straight-forward insight about marketing and public relations.

And, even though we’ve never met, I’ve enjoyed getting to know her on Twitter. She’s a real treat and I look forward to finally getting to meet at Social Slam in a couple of months!

Without further adieu, I bring you some excellent insights (and a whole lot of fun) from Gini. Check it out!

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Tell us the story of how you started your own business. What made you decide to strike out on your own?

I didn’t really make a calculated decision to go out on my own. A few years prior, a client made an off-hand comment that I’d be good at running my own business. Until then, I’d never even thought about it. I was on the fast track to making partner and getting a BMW company car. But then I had a few life changes that forced my hand a little bit. I got married, my husband moved to Chicago, we bought a condo, and I was getting a little tired of fighting with the advertising folks on what did and did not constitute news. So I quit. And I freelanced. And then one day I needed help. And then more help. And the rest, as they say, is history.

It seems in today’s world, entrepreneurship has become very glamorized. But, entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone. What advice would you give to someone considering to taking the plunge into entrepreneurship? Should they run for the hills???

HAHAHAHA! Glamour. Ha! Well, if you don’t mind working 90-100 hours a week, having some years where you don’t make a dime, and having the pressure of supporting employees, then by all means, it’s glamorous! Entrepreneurship definitely is not for everyone. You really need to know your strengths and weaknesses. You have to be willing to take risk. You have to be willing to lose it all. And you have to, have to, have to have someone behind you supporting everything you do, even when you have three straight years of misery.

What have you enjoyed most about being a business owner?

The most? It’s pretty darn rewarding to answer to yourself. I mean, you have clients and employees and you’ll always work for them, but if you want to pivot your business because the current model isn’t working, you don’t have to ask anyone. Sure, you make a lot of mistakes, but it’s rewarding to have that kind of freedom. It’s also rewarding to hang out in your cycling clothes all day if you want and not have anyone tell you it’s inappropriate.

For anyone that follows your efforts online, you quickly discover that you are everywhere! How do you find and make the time to blog, comment, tweet, Pin, Facebook, etc., all while running a business?

Clones, Laura. I have clones. I’m not going to pretend it’s all done in a 40 hour workweek. I average 80-90 hours a week. The week between Christmas and New Year’s I worked 38 hours and thought I was on vacation. It was great! I’m also uber-connected and have figured out a way to use technology to be really efficient. But my team is AMAZING at helping me. They’ve created a process for which I can coach, mentor, and provide strategy when needed without overwhelming me.

(***Laura’s note – My money was on robots, but clones make total sense!)

Even though social media isn’t new anymore, there are still plenty of businesses – especially smaller ones – that struggle with how to use it effectively. What advice would you give to a small business owner about how to get started?

Not just smaller ones. We work with a Fortune 10 company that isn’t yet using it. I’m still astounded by the business owners who won’t let their employees use the web at work. The only thing they can do is email. The very best thing to get started is to monitor the conversations happening online and really listen to the types of things that are said. Set up Google alerts for your company, the industry, and any competition. You’ll soon find some interesting things that will help you develop a strategy.

It’s no secret that you’re a huge fan of Pinterest. It’s clear you think the network has vast potential for businesses, but do you think the network has staying power? Will it still be around a year from now – especially with rip-offs like Pinspire nipping at its heels?

I LOVE PINTEREST! I mean, what? I do think it has staying power. Not because the social media geeks are on it, but because my mom, my sister, and my cousin are on it. In fact, the social media geeks are the late adopters in this case. The women who need help with ideas and creativity because they’re working full-time and managing a family are the ones who are using it. Plus it REALLY appeals to the way most human beings learn – with visuals.

Spin Sucks has been recognized as a top PR & Marketing blog. What do you think has been the secret sauce for its success?

Crap. I wish I knew. I think it’s a combination of a few things: Our guest bloggers who bring different expertise than we have, the fact that I’m not afraid to say what I really think, and I also have zero problem making fun of myself…or letting others do it for me. I’d love to get it to the point that people are debating the opinions on there, but we’re still only attracting like-minded people. At least in the comments.

Okay, let’s switch over to marketing and PR. You talk a lot about PR blunders on your blog. What do you think was the biggest blunder of 2011? Was there just one?

The biggest one? Dang. Let me go back and look in the archives. Hold please. It’s kind of a toss-up between Marie Callender’s and Penn State. On one hand, Marie Callender’s completely created a crisis because their PR firm didn’t know their blogger audience. On the other hand, Penn State didn’t bring in PR counsel when they first learned Sandusky was being investigated. From an emotional standpoint, Penn State wins hands down.

What do you think will be one of the biggest marketing trends we’ll see in 2012?

We’re going to see a lot more integration of the online and offline tools. If PR and marketing pros can’t prove the dollars ROI on their efforts, they will be fired. The big companies won’t stand for it and the small companies won’t be able to invest in it. The whole “social media is measured by sentiment and engagement” is baloney. The people who say that are doing so because they don’t know how to tie their efforts to the P&L. It’s so much easier today to measure our results than it was even five years ago. We have to figure it out.

You have a book – Marketing in the Round – that’s coming out in May. Tell us about it! Why should business owners rush out and pre-order it?

I do? I do! It’s about marketing in the round, which means all of the disciplines work together. The silos have to be broken down for good. PR and marketing need to work in tandem with sales. Advertising and direct marketing need to use social media. We actually use a visual of a wheel where marketing is in the middle and the other disciplines are the spokes. It’s all about figuring out which strengths the people inside your organization have and working with those to create a truly integrated program.

Please don’t pre-order it! Wait until it comes out! No, I’m just kidding. It can be found on Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

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Before you rush off to wish Gini a happy birthday, what questions do you have for her? What’s the biggest think you took away from her insights, other than getting your very own clones?!

If you don’t know Pam, she is the author behind the popular blog, Escape from Cubicle Nation, and the excellent book with the same name. I did some coaching with her and she helped reframe my thinking to help me get in the right mental place with my business. It was also during one of her business forums that I came up with the name Blue Kite Marketing!

When I finally turned in my notice with my job, I couldn’t wait to tell Pam because she has been such an important part of my journey to full-time entrepreneurship. I thought it would be only fitting to interview her on the blog as part of my “Freedom Week” series.

During the interview, we talk about how to determine if you’re cut out for business ownership, deciding when to take the leap and how to be successful once get there. If you’re an entrepreneur (or just thinking about coming one), I think you’ll get a ton out of this interview.

If you don’t see it below, you can get it here.

If you are considering taking the leap to become an entrepreneur, I strongly encourage you to check out Pam’s blog and take a look at her various courses and coaching opportunities. I promise it’s a worthy investment!

What questions do you have about starting a business? If you are already a business owner, how did you make the leap? I’d love to hear your story!

Mark and I have known each other almost two years. And, as we mention in the video, we met through Twitter. I’m glad to call him a colleague and friend.

If you don’t know Mark, he is a prolific blogger at his wildly successful blog called {grow}, and he’s a well-known marketing consultant, college professor and an author of two books. His first book, The Tao of Twitter, is a fantastic roadmap for anyone trying to understand how to use Twitter effectively.

His second book, Return on Influence, talks about influence on the social web – how companies are measuring it and how marketers are using it to reach their target market. And, I’m thrilled to say I am a contributor to the book! I really enjoyed getting to help Mark with this project and I can’t wait to read the full book, which comes out in March.

In the interview, we talk about all of this – how businesses can use blogging and social media and how businesses are grappling with the notion of influence on the social web. Mark even talks about how you can improve your Klout score (no kidding!).

It’s great stuff and I’m thrilled Mark took a few minutes to share his thoughts. We had a lot of fun and I hope you get a lot out of this.

We had some technical difficulties, so the video is divided into two pieces. You can check them out below. Or, you can get part one here and you can get part two here.

During the video, we briefly mentioned Social Slam, which is a fantastic social media conference Mark is spearheading in Knoxville on April 27, 2012. I attended last year and I’m going again this year. You won’t find another conference with such a tremendous slate of speakers for such a great value. Check it out. You won’t be disappointed!

What did you learn from the video? Do you have an key takeaways that you’re going to look into? Any questions for Mark?

In a little more than a year, Jeff has built a wildly successful blog for writers. He’s been featured on Copyblogger, ProBlogger, Zen Habits and scores of other popular blogs (including mine!). And to top it all off, Write to Done recently named Jeff’s blog one of the top 10 blogs for writers in 2011-12!

Because Jeff lives in Nashville like me, we’ve had a chance to meet and get to know each other during the past year. He’s a super guy and I’m glad he was able to take a few moments to share with you his recipe for building a successful platform. Even though his tips are geared toward writers, he shares a lot of useful information for business owners who want to use a blog to build a platform.

The video is below. (Pardon the video quality – the audio is golden, so it’s still worth a listen!) And if you can’t see it, you can get it it here.

During the video, we talk about the fact that Jeff has scored a book deal. And, what’s amazing is that he didn’t seek out a book contract – the publisher found him thanks to his blog!

Jeff has two new ebooks talking about what he did to get to this point and offers up some tips to help aspiring authors and anyone who wants to use their blog as a key marketing tool. The ebooks are a steal for $4.99 and you can get them here.

And, if you’re not already reading Jeff’s blog, don’t forget to check it out. He’s got lots of great insight to share.

What was your biggest takeaway from the video? Do you have any questions for Jeff?

To celebrate my move to full-time entrepreneurship, I wanted to offer up something special to you guys. This week, in what I’m calling “Freedom Week”, I’m serving up interviews with awesome thought-leaders who have inspired me during my journey as a business owner.

Today, I’m thrilled to bring you an interview with Stanford Smith over at Pushing Social. In my opinion, Stan is one of the best bloggers out there. He’s a stellar writer and his tips are rock solid. And, I’m not the only one who thinks so – Social Media Examiner just named Pushing Social one of the top 10 social media blogs of 2012!

In the video, we talk about Stan’s “special sauce” (hat tip to Marcus Sheridan) for blogging success, including finding your audience and promoting your blog without feeling like a used car salesman.

The interview is jam-packed with good stuff. And, you even get to meet my dog, Bailey, who makes a special appearance during the video. What’s not to love about that?!

Check out the video below. If you can’t see it, you can check it out here.

As we mentioned in the video, Stanford helps people improve their blogs with his Spectacular Blog Review service. If you want to get better results with your blog, be sure to check this out!

Also, if you’re not already reading Pushing Social, you need to get over there and give it a look. You’ll be glad you did.

What did you take away from the video that you’re going to implement on your blog? Have any questions for Stanford?

I have been keeping something from you for a long time. Some of you may know my little secret, but for many of you, this will be the first time you are hearing this.

You see, up until yesterday, I had a day job outside of Blue Kite Marketing. For the past year and a half, I have been building my marketing business while holding down a demanding day job.

I’m not gonna lie – it’s been tough. But, it has been worth it.

And today, everything changes.

Today, I am a full-time, full-fledged entrepreneur! And, I couldn’t be more thrilled!

What this means for you

There are many reasons why I’m excited to take Blue Kite Marketing full time. Yes, it means I’m fulfilling a dream and getting to play by my own rules. And yes, I’m looking forward to working on my business during daylight hours!

But, the biggest reason I’m totally pumped is that I finally get to dedicate my time and energy into helping more businesses succeed.

Now, I have more time to take on clients who need help with their marketing and social media strategy. I have greater ability to speak to groups about how to make sense of social media and leverage it for their business. And, it means I have time to share more free marketing tips with you!

In the coming weeks, I’ll be stepping up my blogging efforts, sharing more free marketing and social media tips with email subscribers and releasing a free ebook that I have in the works!

If you don’t want to miss out on all of the good stuff, be sure to sign up for my free marketing tips you’ll be the first to know about all of these goodies.

Virtual hangout, anyone?

Since this is my first full day as an entrepreneur, I thought it would be great to kick off the fun with a free “office hour” on Google+ TODAY (Thursday, Feb 2.) at 2 p.m. CDT. Click here to go to my Google+ profile at 2 p.m. today and you’ll see a link to join the video hang out with me.

It’s a free for all – you can come ask questions, pick my brain or just come say hello! I would love to meet you and have a chance to chat. I think it would be the perfect afternoon break, no? And, if you like this, I just might do this once a week!

Expert interviews coming next week

Because I want to keep the fun and all the good stuff going, next week I will have five interviews with some awesome industry experts on the blog for you!

I don’t want to spoil the surprise, so be sure you come back next week to check out these interviews. They are jam-packed with ideas to help you grow your business.

Let’s help your business take flight, shall we?

I believe 2012 is going to be a stellar year. I’m excited to see your business reach new heights this year and I can’t wait to help you get there.

Now, let’s go get ‘em!

Someone hears that social media can help drive traffic to their website or help them generate more business. So, they rush out and set up accounts on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Then, panic sets in – what on earth are they supposed to do once you get there? How will this help their business?

Good question. One that many fail to answer before they dive in.

Daera Cshikoe asked me this question on Twitter earlier this week as he’s teaching a class about internet marketing:

“I’ve been hired/promoted recently, am thinking to utilise social media for more business and traffic. Question is HOW?!”

I thought his class, and all of you, could benefit from the answer. So, here are several ways you can use social media to help you generate traffic, and ultimately, grow your business.

Find your people.

Social media gives you a great way to find YOUR people online (i.e. people who want to connect with you and buy your stuff).

For example, LinkedIn gives you the ability to search people with a particular industry or job title and Twitter allows you to search by location or bio. Spending some time searching through social networks and connecting with targeted people can help you expand your reach and put you in front of the right audience.

Discover opportunities.

Businesses that know how to listen can position themselves to find opportunities on the social web. Setting up Google Alerts and social media searches can help you pay attention to the needs of your audience and even offer up your solution right when people are looking for it.

For instance, when I was looking for hotel recommendations in Nashville, I was shocked that not one hotel responded to my query on Twitter. That was definitely a missed opportunity.

Spread your content.

If you’ve got a blog, or any other content you can share (i.e. photos, ebooks, videos, etc.), social media is the perfect companion. By sharing your content on social networks, It helps you showcase your expertise and gives your audience a taste of what it would be like to work with you.

Also, by sharing your content through social media, it helps your information spread and get in front of more people.

Engage with customers.

Responding and interacting with customers can go a long way toward building loyalty. Social media is just another way to offer excellent customer service by answering questions, solving problems and offering help when they need it. By doing these things, you’ll keep your customers coming back.

Test ideas & get feedback.

Listening to the needs of your customers and prospects helps you get valuable insight into how you can better serve them. Social media offers the perfect forum to ask questions about your current offerings and solicit feedback on ideas for new products or services.

You can also use the feedback you get to capture testimonials that can help you promote your business.

Run a promotion.

Social media can be a fantastic avenue for running a promotion. Offer a special discount to your Twitter followers or Facebook fans. Or, give your social connections “first dibs” on new products or services.

These are great ways to help drive some business and also spread the word about you. After all, people ALWAYS love deals.

Connect with influencers.

Whether it be journalists, bloggers or experts within your niche, social media offers unprecedented access and insight into key influencers. And oftentimes, you’ll find these folks are far more accessible through social media than any other channel.

Use social media to develop a relationship with influencers that may help your business. But remember – just make sure you don’t start acting like a used car salesman. Get to know them first. You never know where it might lead.

Help others.

With everything you do on social media, it should be with an eye towards helping people solve their problems. That’s why you’re in business, right?

This quote always seems to help keep things in focus:

“You can have everything you want in life, if you help enough other people get what they want.”- Zig Ziglar

If you see someone who’s looking for a new restaurant to try in your town or an entrepreneur who needs recommendations for the best accounting software, don’t be afraid to chime in. When you take the time to help others – even if it’s not in your niche – people will view you as a trusted, helpful resource.

What else?

These tips are just scratching the surface, but they should help you get started and give you several ideas to help you connect with your target audience and grow your business.

What would you add to the list? Do you have good examples of these ideas in action?

Image credit: Diricia De Wet

Why?

I wasn’t starting with a clean slate. I had too many things distracting me and getting in the way.

For me to start off on the right foot and prepare myself for 2012, I found that there were a few things I needed to do to get in the right mindset for the year.

Here are some things I did (and I encourage you to do) if you want to get the year started right.

Declutter your space.

When my office is a chaotic mess, I find it difficult to concentrate on my work. Not only that, when you’re busy, a messy office makes it difficult to put your hands on things when you need them.

We harbor so much clutter through the year that now is a good time to tidy things up a bit. To make things easy, make a decision with each paper or item you touch – file or toss. There’s no in between.

Having a tidy workspace does wonders for your creativity and productivity. Trust me.

Clean your Inbox.

For the most part, I was disconnected over the holidays. While I enjoyed the reprieve, it meant I came back to a bloated inbox.

I’m sure you did too.

Take some time to get caught up with your messages. (This is a great email management strategy if you need one).

As you’re going along, be sure to unsubscribe from emails you don’t read anymore. Even though you may have good intentions, if you’re not reading them, they are just taking up time and filling up your inbox.

Review your to-do list.

If you’re like me, you’re to-do list is a mile long. There are always the items that are “must-dos”, like client work and other deadines.

But, the bigger problem are those things you want to look into someday. For me, it’s things like testing out new social networks like Pinterest or trying out a new plugin for the blog.

The problem is the items on this list rarely get crossed off. They just keep accumulating and taking up mental space.

Know what I’m talking about, right?

So, here’s what I propose – carve out an 30 minutes to go through that list and make some decisions. Much like the physical clutter, make a decision for each item – either designate time to look into those things or just let them drop off the list.

Start good habits now.

One of my three guiding principles for the year is discipline – and for good reason. One of the reasons we often fail to meet our goals is that we fail to create good habits.

With running, for example, it’s important that I designate days and times to run otherwise, I won’t do it. Without a schedule, it’s far too easy to renege. The same goes with blogging, social media interaction, and a whole host of other efforts.

The trick is to set a schedule for the items on your list that will help you reach your goals this year. For instance, if one of your goals is to get two new clients every month, set aside time every day or every week to do one thing that will help you get closer to that goal.

This isn’t an exhaustive list, but doing these few things will help you give you a nice, clean canvas to start working your magic on for the year.

Have you done any of these things to get started for the year? What would you add to the list?

Image credit: Hamad AL-Mohannna

There’s so much good stuff out there, it’s enough to make your head spin, so I’ve picked out five of my favorites from the week that you just can’t miss!

Without further adieu, here’s this week’s Reading Roundup:

• 20-Life Changing Habits That Will Make Your 2012 the Best Year Ever – How’s that for a headline?! And the content is just as good. Instead of talking about all of the things you should be doing this year, Marcus Sheridan stresses there are number of things we should stop doing if we want to be successful. And, he’s right. If you read one post off of this list, read this one. It’s that good.
• The Myth of Readiness - My friend, Travis Robertson, reminded us that we’re never truly ready to tackle to the hurdles in front of us. If you want to reach your goals, prepare, then act. Sage advice to start the year.
• Failure is Not Doing – So much of the reason we fail is that we never start in the first place. Aaron Lee hits the nail on the head with this one and asked his readers to share their definitions of failure. Also, it includes an AWESOME video of a guy’s journey to the Boston Marathon – it will life your heart for sure!
• What the Iowa Caucus Can Teach Us About Blogging – Switching gears a bit, my pal, Stanford Smith, beautifully compared blogging to politics. Now, before you start rolling your eyes, stick with me here. Much like politicians, bloggers need to master the art of standing out. If you sound like everyone else, it will be hard to rise above the pack. If you want to take your blog to the next level this year, read this post.
• Are You Ready for Return on Influence? - My dear friend, Mark Schaefer, has just announced his next book, Return on Influence! Yes, the book talk about Klout, but it also goes further to discuss how how influence has become the currency of the social web and what companies are doing to leverage it. I’m excited to get my hands on it! It doesn’t come out until March, but if you pre-order it now, you’ll get a free 30-page e-book from Mark. I’ve already seen the e-book and it’s awesome! Check out the blog post for details.

What were your favorite blog posts this week? What has inspired you to start 2012 off right?