Why Pinterest could be the network of choice for photographers in 2012

Have you resolved to do more marketing in 2012? Who hasn’t? If you’re one of the lucky few who’s just swimming in bookings this year then count yourself lucky. For most photographers it’s pretty tough out there.

You’re probably tired of hearing it, but we’ve all got to get smarter. Which is why you might like to know about new (ish) social gem, Pinterest. Pinterest isn’t all that new, but it appears it might just be beginning to get traction among photographers.

Why? Well, it’s arguably the best place to indulge your photographic interest since Flickr. Essentially it’s a digital pinboard that lets you ‘pin’ images to your own ‘board’. What else is good about it? Read on…

Save inspiration

One of the great things about Pinterest is you can save images you like by browsing through categories (there are many, including photography, fashion, art, design and so on) and then ‘liking’ or ‘repinning’ images you like. This works exactly like Facebook and Twitter. Better than that you can see the stuff you’ve liked or repined in your profile, making it very easy to find content at a later date. 

Brand yourself

The other great thing about Pinterest is the ability to group content you find into categories. Not everything you like is going to fall into the same category. For instance, if you like sports, wildlife, portrait and music photography, you can pin these to appropriate pinboard, again making it much easier to find at a later date. I find myself using the ‘my style’ pinboard a lot for images that are non-specific, but say a lot about my taste.

Pin It

So what if you see a picture somewhere on the web that you really like and want to save it your pinboard for later? Great news, you can simply add a ‘pin it’ button to your web browser. The app then scoops up all the images on the page and asks you which ones you want to pin. You can add them to appropriate boards right there without having to visit the Pinterest site.

Follow people you know

Currently Pinterest is invite only. Which is any new social network’s strategy for driving up interest – if people have to apply to get in, they want in even more. Send a request, I’ve yet to hear anyone say theirs hasn’t been granted – or find someone you know who already has an account and ask them to send you an invite. An easy way to do this is to go to the ‘find friends’ button and search your Twitter/Facebook.

Happy pinning!