10 Tips to Gain 400+ Pinterest Followers a Week

Some time back I bragged about mentioned how I was getting tons of Pinterest followers. I even said I'd post about it. But life got in the way and I just didn't move forward with the post. However, when I saw my latest weekly Pinterest summary I knew I needed to jot down some notes. Or I'd just be a selfish blogger. No one wants to be that!

Before we jump into the nuts and bolts, there are a couple of things you should know. First, this is very similar to how I gain Twitter followers, and secondly, this will not tell you how to get more people to pin things from your website. When I get that figured out, I won't need a post because you'll hear me singing it from the rooftops.

Oh, wait, one more thing. I only spend about 15 minutes a day on Pinterest.

Following:

1.    Follow 10 new people a day. No excuses.

2.    Follow everyone back. Yes, everyone. If I find something offensive or that I'm truly not interested in, I just unfollow that board. Why? As long as you are following at least one board of that person you show up as a follower. The same applies when someone follows just one of your boards. I suppose if they follow one board you can just follow one back but I don't have time for that kind of monitoring.

3.    Check the persons stats to see if they follow back. If they have 10,000 followers and are only following 120 people...guess what?...you're not going to get a follow back. And unlike, Twitter, where I recommend that you follow someone just because you like them I don't here. There are tools, tips, and tricks to get to the most awesome pins (some you'll find below) without following someone when you're not going to gain something in return. (FYI: when I'm selecting someone to follow who hasn't followed me, I do take a peek at their pins before I make that decision).

Pins & Boards

4.   Have pretty boards. That's it. Period. How do you get pretty boards? Set the cover. Do not. I repeat. Do not just let the cover be your last pin. You could wind up with a picture of some girls boobs as the cover. Unless you want to be followed by every creepy guy on Pinterest that's not going to serve your interests.

5. Organize your boards. Keep similar boards categorized together. It makes it easy for people to find what they're looking for and come and visit you more and more.

6. Pin at least 20 pins a day.

7. Make community boards and invite people to join you. Join other community boards when they invite you. However, be selective. If it doesn't fit your interest or Pinterest style, decline the invite. I have two community boards that I invite people to and they are able to come and join the fun (DIY and Crafts and Giveaways)

Tools:

8. Repinly. By far the most useful tool. I'm sure you'll read plenty of people who have theories on it but here's why I find it useful. Trending pins. If you're going to pin something pretty why not make it the most popular pin?

9. PinAlerts. This one is a lot of fun. You add in your favorite sites and it sends you an alert (you can specify, as pinned, hourly, daily, etc.) of what other people have pinned. I love it! First, as a blogger, it allows me to see what others are interested in and secondly, as a Pinner it allows me to get to pins that I know aren't spam. Don't forget to set up your own blog for alerts!

Have Fun

10. Despite the way it may sound, I only pin things I find interesting. I don't pin things I hate for the sake of more followers. My boards are a reflection of me, my style, and an extension of my blog. They inspire, inform, and are fun, fun, fun.

Small Talk:

There are more tips I could add, but narrowed it down to my most useful. What do you find most useful for Pinterest? If you want an invite to one of my community boards, leave a comment with your Pinterest link and I'll send you an invite. 

P.S. Don't forget to follow me on Pinterest...I follow back.