If you’ve ever wondered how to make money on Pinterest, then you’ll be thrilled to know there are multiple legitimate ways to earn.

The best part? You can make money on Pinterest with or without a blog, making it a great choice for anyone who is looking for an exciting side hustle.

What makes Pinterest one of the best places to generate income?

Let’s start with a statistic: There are over 2 billion searches on Pinterest each month.

You might use Pinterest as a place to organize your favorite pressure cooker recipes. And it’s now hard to remember decorating your home or planning a wedding before Pinterest existed.

That’s because Pinterest is a powerful search engine where millions of people around the globe run daily searches to find inspiration. Users click on eye-catching images that pop up in their search results, and the images pull up a link that takes the user to the source.

But pins are more than just inspiration or links for tutorials — skilled marketers can sell products directly through links and run targeted ad campaigns.

Many bloggers have long touted Pinterest as a fantastic way to drive new readers to their blog, which in turn can increase their revenue. But Pinterest can generate income for more than just bloggers — marketers, virtual assistants, owners of eCommerce sites, influencers, and more can all learn how to make money on Pinterest.

How to Make Money on Pinterest | 8 Genuine Ways to Earn in 2020

1. How to make money on Pinterest with a blog

Let’s look at how you can make money through Pinterest if you do happen to have a blog set up and ready to go. Pinterest is one of the best ways to drive traffic to your site for very little money. And by little, you can actually do it for free!

So how exactly does Pinterest work for a blogger?

When you write a blog and then post it on your website, you can use the URL to create a pin on Pinterest. When someone sees your pin in their newsfeed, the goal is to get them to click on it and be taken directly to your website. Or it’s possible your pin could show up in the search results when someone is looking for something specific.

Here’s an example of a pin linked to a blogger’s website. Notice the title is simple but has keywords, it has a good image, and the image provides brand awareness for the website. It’s also a great use of the keywords “Staging Tips to Sell.” Once you click on the pin, it takes you straight to the blog HammersnHugs.com.

Now, the caveat here is that your pin needs to get noticed, and there are multiple best practices to keep in mind when you’re creating a pin from your blog’s URL. Your pin should:

• Use eye-catching images. Pinterest will pull in the images from your blog post and allow you to select the ones you’ve already used. Or you can use Canva to create a brand new image if you don’t have your own photograph (never use a copyrighted image without permission). Make sure to use an image related to what you’re trying to promote. For instance, if your blog is about fall fashion trends, then use an image related to this idea. This isn’t a time to be abstract.
• Make your description count. The description is precious real estate when it comes to pins — use it wisely. You can also fit some keywords in your description to optimize for SEO, so think about the terms people would use to find this pin.
• Stay consistent with your brand. If you have a look to all of your images then continue the theme in your pins. Add your blog’s name in your description or in a small place on your image.
• Use text over your image. This is called an overlay. You can make your image pop by using additional text to grab your reader’s attention and make them click.

Pinterest also has complex algorithms that can change at any moment, so pay attention to platform changes. You should also be engaged with other pinners in your niche by pinning their pins to your boards.

For pins that are doing well, consider adding an opt-in email form to the blog posts those pins link to. While it’s great to get traffic to your site, you also want to work on building your audience. This is part of how you earn more money from your blog.

2. Work as a Pinterest virtual assistant

As you’ve probably guessed by now, knowing your way around Pinterest is more involved than simply pinning recipes and charming garden pictures. If you understand how Pinterest works and how it’s an important part of a marketing strategy, then you might consider becoming a Pinterest virtual assistant.

A Pinterest VA is responsible for several aspects of managing Pinterest for another business. Here are a few of the tasks a Pinterest VA could perform:

• Create pins
• Promote pins
• Create boards
• Create Video pins
• Schedule pins with Tailwind
• Review analytics of pins and make recommendations

These are highlights of what a Pinterest VA can offer for someone or a business. You can create a niche for your services by specializing in Video Pins for instance. If you’re interested in becoming a Pinterest VA, check out the Pinterest VA course by Kristen Larsen. You will learn everything from A-Z on how to set up a successful Pinterest VA business.

Read more at Learn How to Become a Pinterest Virtual Assistant in 2020

3. Teach others your Pinterest skills

If you understand what makes a pin zing and gets a business noticed, then you should consider teaching people your valuable skills. There are businesses and bloggers who need help with their Pinterest strategy and want to do it themselves — they just need a little coaching to get started.

You can make money with Pinterest by offering how-to guides, coaching sessions, e-books, or printable guides, even classes to teach others how to use Pinterest for their business. You can create your pins advertising your services and then direct potential customers to your website.

In the previous idea (becoming a Pinterest VA), the ladies who created that course did what’s recommended here. They took their knowledge and monetized it. Obviously you don’t need to create a full-fledged course, but the point is that people are willing to pay for specialized knowledge.

4. Affiliate marketing with Pinterest

If you have products you are passionate about, then you can turn this into an opportunity to be an affiliate marketer on Pinterest. Affiliate marketing with Pinterest is a great way to earn additional income, similar to how you can earn affiliate income through blogging.

The goal of an affiliate agreement is to create a pin for a product you want to represent. You’re given a unique affiliate link for the product that you link through the pin. And when someone clicks on your pin and link and makes a purchase, you receive a commission.

You can get started with the affiliate process through companies such as ShareASale or FlexOffers — and these are only two of many available. Once you’re approved as an affiliate, you create the pins and start earning commissions.

5. Joint promotions with Pinterest

If you are active on Pinterest and have a community you are engaged with, then companies could be interested in partnering with you for promotions. Being active and engaged involves activities such as pinning daily (both your pins and others), using rich descriptions and hashtags, and pin-worthy images.

A joint promotion means you need to create show-stopping pins for the company. In return, you’ll gain new monthly viewers and help drive sales for the company through Pinterest.

For example, you could partner with a home improvement store for a kitchen makeover on a budget. You would pin their products, write descriptions and hashtags, and promote the pin throughout your Pinterest community.

6. Create Shop the Look pins

If you have a knack for coordinating outfits for men, women, or children, then consider putting together Shop the Look pins. This is similar to the affiliate concept except you can link an individual item for sale. As users are scrolling through their Pinterest feed, they’ll see these pins with an outfit you’ve created. They can click on the pin and the link will take them directly to the item for sale. If they purchase, you would earn a commission as long as you used an affiliate link.

Here’s an example of an entire outfit put together in one pin, but if you click on it, it takes you to where you can purchase the leopard print sweater.

Think of all the opportunities to create a Shop the Look pin. You could create looks for kids, busy moms, busy dads, women over 50, workwear, loungewear… you get the idea. You can even run Shop the Look Pins that promote home decor products, kitchen gadgets, etc.

You can link the individual products and then earn a commission through each affiliate link.

7. Monetize a skill you learned from Pinterest

If you’ve spent any time on Pinterest, you’ve likely been sucked in by tons of different ideas for crafts, cooking, home improvement, etc. Suddenly, you can decorate and cook like nobody’s business. But what if you really could learn something from Pinterest and then use the skill to earn extra money?

Think about the following side hustles you could earn money from:

• Graphic design
• Writing
• Calligraphy
• Designing stationery
• Tabletop decorations
• The list is limitless….

Use Pinterest to help you search for ideas and also how to market yourself. Pinterest can lead you to the right teachers for you to learn additional skills. You can then use these skills to make your own money.

8. Use Pinterest to drive users to your eCommerce site

Perhaps you don’t want to learn an extra skill but you already own your own eCommerce website. Pinterest is the perfect opportunity for you to promote your product or multiple products and get new users to your online store. You can do this in one of two ways:

• Create a pin with a link to your product
• Pay to advertise on Pinterest so your pin (Pinterest ads are called Promoted Pins) shows up in a targeted pinner’s newsfeed

Of course, within these two avenues there are several steps you can take to increase the odds of success with your pins. Learning how to promote pins and optimize them (this is referred to as SEO within Pinterest) can drive people to your store and it’s up to your site to convert them to paying customers.

Related: How to Advertise on Pinterest | Your Guide for 2020

Before you learn how to make money on Pinterest… 

If you’re serious about learning to make money with Pinterest, there are a handful of key points before you start your journey. These will help you avoid pitfalls later down the road.

You should:

• Make sure you’ve set up a business account with Pinterest.
• Don’t think you can outsmart Pinterest and run more than one account.
• You must disclose your affiliate relationship with Pinterest. You can do this by using the #ad or #affiliate to your pins. This is a requirement from the FTC.
• Only promote or work with products in Pinterest that genuinely represent you or your brand.

Final thoughts on learning how to make money on Pinterest

Pinterest offers so many ways to earn additional money. If you’ve ever thought about turning your love of pinning into a little extra income each month then now is the time. You can make money with Pinterest whether or not you have a blog. More importantly, Pinterest offers an amazing platform for you to start a lucrative side hustle — or maybe even a new career.