Pinterest Pro - little old me

I can't tell you how excited I was to be featured on Ez Pudewa's excellent Creature Comforts blog as a Pinterest Pro. {insert happy dance here}. Ez has been putting together a great series of interesting Pinterest users to follow that is definitely worth checking out. Thank you Ez! And a special thank you to Lisa for the nomination!

Image: Creature Comforts

How To Pin Like A Pro - a Pinterest guide for small businesses

I've written a few articles over the last few months about using Pinterest. One for eBay's Mum's Business website, one that I offered as a download for small businesses (who have had the heads up for a couple of months) and a tip sheet that I added to the Sydney abcd meet-up last month. I thought it was only fair that I should share some tips with you too!

This is a short version of my Top 10 Tips For Small Businesses to get the most out of Pinterest. My emphasis is on keeping true to yourself, and remembering that it's less about promoting your products (although this is important too), and more about using the platform to get to know other like-minded people and possibly form special connections that might be impossible otherwise.

I could literally talk for hours about Pinterest and I'm happy to continue the conversation in the comments below. I am particularly interested in how you are using Pinterest, and what you are gaining from it. Please share!

Pin what you love
Your boards represent your personal brand. Imagine that a talent scout is following you; what would you pin to truly represent your aesthetics?

Pin your products and other products too
Your followers will feel as though they are being marketed to if they are only presented with your products.

Use thoughtful descriptions
Increase the chances of your pins being found through Pinterest Search, by creating useful descriptions with keywords, hash tags and searchable terms.

Categorise your boards
Make sure that all your boards are categorised so that the pins on each board appear in Pinterest's overall category pages.

Like your own products
Use pinterest.com/source/yourwebsite address/ to find pins from your website. You can thank the pinner by commenting, “liking” and re-pinning to your own boards.

Follow users you respect
Write thoughtful, value-added comments, and possibly form an authentic connection with industry leaders, media and bloggers and people you admire.

Use Pin Etiquette
Lead by example. Use your brand name (and link to your website) and credit the photographer.

Keep It Nice
Your reputation is created from every interaction, including the images you pin, or re-pin, and the comments that you make. Keep those comments positive and value-added.

Share your Pins
Make your Pinterest boards work hard for you by sharing your Pinterest URL with your clients, on your website, your email signature, and your newsletters.

Actively engage with your clients
Reinforce your brand and engage with clients by following their boards. Comment on their pins where appropriate, and use the @username feature to share pins of interest with them directly.

Let your clients, friends, contacts and online buddies know you care, and there's a good chance you could deepen your relationships (and that's a good thing).

P.S. Come and follow me over on Pinterest, and let me know so I can follow you too :)

by Steph Bond-Hutkin | Bondville

Half-eaten fruit over on Instagram...

theme = bright

I've been having a lot of fun using Instagram - are you on yet? If not, it's a lot like Twitter, except that the main content in your news feed is photos taken with your smart phone; text is optional. I'm finding it to be an amazing way to get to know online buddies, make new ones, and discover new websites that I love. There's something about the visual nature that allows me to feel closer to people and less anonymous.

As there is a relatively small group of users on Instagram, I get lots of comments and responses to my photos, which is a nice feeling. In fact, a much nicer feeling than I get from Twitter and now even Facebook, where there is sooooo much going on that my little status update is a drop in the ocean and real two-way conversation has gone by the wayside.

So yes, I'm still tweeting and updating my personal Facebook and Bondville Facebook pages (it's a great way to keep up with new blog posts if you don't drop by the site every day), but I'm devoting a bit of heart and soul to Instagram while it's still relatively new.

Would you like to follow along? If you do follow me, please leave a comment to let me know that you are a reader so I can follow you back. I'm 'sbond' and I usually post images of things that catch my eye. Here's a photo of my fruit bowl today. While I was folding laundry somebody devoured a banana, an apple, and a pear, and then put their half-eaten evidence *back* in the bowl!

I have also joined the Interiors Photo Month photo-a-day challenge by Jen Bishop from The Interiors Addict (and based on the hugely popular Photo A Day by Chantelle meme from Fat Mum Slim). It's been a great way to stretch myself creatively a little each day. Here are a few pics I've taken around the house based on the daily themes:

 theme = bedside

theme = collection

theme = couch

theme = books

I guess the pure form of Instagram is based on uploading images that you take yourself. There has been a movement towards people uploading images from their websites, things they have found on Pinterest and screenshots of things they are browsing. I'm less interested in those kinds of images; although I'm sure there are many that enjoy them. It will be interesting to see how Instagram develops and how the users will react to some of the marketing messages that I am seeing. Maybe, like Pinterest, we will have to be vigilant to keep our newsfeed 'clean'.

I'm interested to hear your thoughts too.

If you would like to follow me on social media, here's the run-down:


Facebook: Bondville page: includes links to Bondville posts as well as other links to kids store sales, and other fun things for kids and families that I don't fit on to Bondville. Post 5+  times per week.
Google+: links to Bondville posts.
Pinterest: my personal account: things I love including kids clothes, kids spaces, weddings, cakes, flowers, party ideas, things to make, and more.
Instagram: (sbond) my personal account: random snapshots from my day.
Twitter: my personal account, but also includes links to Bondville posts.

Images: Steph Bond-Hutkin

10 Ways to use Pinterest to Promote Your Small Business

This one is for the newbies to Pinterest. You've probably heard about Pinterest's huge growth, and the large amount of traffic being driven to brands around the world. But it's another social media platform to wrap your head around; enough to give you a headache.

If you have a product or service that appeals to women, especially in a creative field (wedding planning, florist, graphic designer, kidswear designer, fashion, cooking, food, packaging, art, craft, landscape design, architecture, party styling, events, and many other small businesses), and you want to get a head-start on this Pinterest thing, I've written an easy-to-read article just for you.

Head over to the Bondville Media store to download 10 Ways to use Pinterest to Promote Your Small Business. I run through the basics of how Pinterest works, how to use it for your brand, and 10 steps to take to drive traffic to your product/service/blog/personal website.  I also encourage you to use Pinterest to deepen your connections with current and potential customers, and for relationships within your industry.

And have fun too! (it's soooo addictive).

only $1.99

Buy Now

(and please pass on to your buddies who may haven't dipped their feet in yet).

Polli's hexagonal wooden necklaces

Here's something a little special just for us today. I've been pinning geometric shapes to my style pinboard like crazy recently, and these amazing hexagonal wooden necklaces from Polli fit the bill (and are Australian-designed to boot!)

These necklaces are made from sustainable plantation hoop pine ply. The hexagonal beads are designed to flip and slide to suit your taste. I'm more than a little in love.

There are lots of other great styles and colourways on the Polli website. You can find Polli pendants in the online store.

Images: Polli

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to you! I saw this amazing cake on Pinterest (first pinned by the ever-so-cool Joy Cho of Oh Joy!) a few weeks ago and thought you would love it too. It's an amazing Red Velvet heart cake, made by I am Baker. If you're feeling super-creative, there's even a tutorial (promise to send me your pics if you make it). There is also a really lovely Valentine's Dessert Brownie recipe on the sister blog I Am Mommy - chocolate heart-shaped brownie covered in cream cheese and strawberries. If fact, there is a totally amazing list of Valentine's baking ideas on the site here. Drooooool.

Steph
x

Image: I Am Baker

Chocolate Mint Icebox Dessert

Whether it's flooding, a crazy cyclone, bushfires or 40 degree temps, we've all got a lot to be disturbed about at the moment. So I thought I would cheer us up with this fantastic chocolate-mint icebox dessert from the great Inside The Kaganoff Kitchen website. I repinned this image on Pinterest a few days ago and it has gone nuts on there - everyone seems to love it. So I thought you might too. Keep cool and keep safe everybody.

Steph
xxx

Image: Inside The Kaganoff Kitchen