UNDERSTANDING THE PINTEREST ENGINE: PHASE I

Stephen Key BUILDING MY WEBSITE, MY LEARNING TO WRITE FILES

Putting Pictures in Perspective

It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. I for one put a lot of effort into either finding, or creating, quality media presentations on the posts I present on my website. They set the tone for the stories that follow them and draw the reader in. I feel that if I can promote my website and novels by creating initial interest through pictures on a promotional platform setting, then I can follow that up with excerpts from my writings and give the reader something to chew on.

Before I delve into the mysteries of promoting my website on Pinterest, let me state up front that I am not an ardent fan of social media sites, especially Facebook and Twitter. Even though millions of fans are proponents of said types of media, I am not one of them. With that being said, let me state for the record that I have determined, through much research, that Pinterest falls into a different category than the dialogue centered entities that proliferate on the internet and electronic transponders that individuals carry around with them.

Why Pinterest Peaks My Interest

My initial research has uncovered some interesting facts about Pinterest. It has high visibility for over 700,000 followers as of the year 2020, and is growing in popularity by leaps and bounds. Since it is media oriented, followers are drawn in primarily by the creator’s Board (or multiple Boards) that are full of picture centered Pins displaying what is offered.

In the case of avid participants searching for new books or authoritative articles to read, there are many Boards that deal strictly with fiction, as well as those that contain non-fiction material. There are also many offerings that contain interesting informative articles written by bloggers that are linked to their websites. Since I fall into the category of those who are the said creators of such entities, I felt compelled to learn the intricacies of creating worthwhile presentations on the Pinterest platform.

So, I dove into the process of creating my first board featuring my 3 novels and found the process a bit intimidating. Nevertheless, I followed the step by step instructions, set them up, and scheduled a launch date. Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough information to do everything needed to instigate a proper launch and decided to delay posting that first board until I was better prepared. When I couldn’t find any method on Pinterest to change the said pre-established launch date at the time, I aborted the idea and deleted it until I was better prepared. This blog is about the upgraded process I went through to effectively launch a different type of Board which followed that first attempt and the results thereof.

I must note here that many of the articles written about Pinterest are seriously out of date, but still appear first with online search efforts. The Pinterest engine is constantly evolving, and anything that emulates authoritative knowledge of Pinterest machinations should not be more than one year old.
Stephen J. Key-SJKeyChronicles.com

Learning Curve Number One: Creating A Business Account

Since I already had a non productive Pinterest personal account, I decided to officially enter the fray by converting said entity into a Pinterest Business Account. The steps I took are as follows:

I went to the “Convert to Business Account” page on Pinterest’s website.
I then filled in my business name and added my website URL into the appropriate box.
Then I filled in the asked for details including who would manage the account.
When done, I clicked on the Convert button.

Why I chose a Business Account?
Business accounts have access to a few more features than regular accounts, such as Pinterest Analytics, which is a built-in analytics tool that lets you study how your page performs. In addition to Analytics, you will also need a business account to create ads on the platform.
Stephen J. Key-SJKeyChronicles.com

Learning Curve Number Two: Creating A Board

Before I could start creating Pins (or doing any type of Re-Pinning), I needed to facilitate a landing spot where I could install them. Therefore, I needed to make a so-called “Board” to place the Pins on.

To do that, I opened up my profile by clicking on my avatar (Picture Logo) and tapped on the plus symbol (+) symbol at bottom right corner of page. This operation presented 3 choices: Create a–Pin, Idea Pin. or Board. I chose Board, then gave it a name, and clicked on the option of making the Board public (as opposed to Private). Once done, I clicked “Create“.

At this point in the Board creation process, I was also presented with the option of adding COLLABORATORS. Since I didn’t fully understand the collaborative process at the time, I skipped this step trying to keep it simple.

Learning Curve Number Three: Creating A Pin

I wanted to create a pin directly on my laptop for starters to keep it straightforward, so I went to my profile and tapped the Create box located at the top left corner of the screen. After selecting Create Pin, the Pin format page appeared. Since I wanted my first Pin to use a photo from my website blog, here is what I finally did (after suffering thru trial and error machinations):

Went to my website and chose a particular blog with the accompanying photo.
Since Pinterest prefers photos that have a ratio of 2 wide x 3 long, I copied the horizontally laid out photo and transferred it to a photo editing program.
The program I used was CorelDraw which was already installed on my laptop (as opposed to one like Canva, a photo editor which I am not familiar with yet). I then pasted said photo on a “New Page” that sported the 2×3 ratio format.
Since most of the photos on my website are presented in a horizontal configuration layout, I had to “cut“ some of the left and right sections out of said photo by using the “chop function” tool to help proportion them better.
Then I configured said photo into the acceptable format by stretching it into the proper vertical and horizontal ratio.
Once done, I exported the reconfigured photo to a designated Pinterest folder in JPEG format so that it would be accessible by the Pinterest Media algorithm.
Then I went back to the “Pin” creator page on Pinterest and tapped the Click to Upload Images button. When the file explorer box appeared, I navigated to the appropriate folder, then clicked on the exported photo. The Pinterest Upload Image function immediately copied said photo and inserted it into to the image box on the “Pin” creation page. At this point, I knew it was done properly when I received no error messages under the photo.
I then gave the “Pin” a title by copying the title from my website and pasting it in the “Pin Title” box.
Next, I spent some time writing a description of what the Pin was about.
When done, I added additional text in the next section which invited followers to participate.
Then I inserted the proper URL in the “Add a Destination Link” box to guide the follower to the target page on my website.
Since I was in the process of creating multiple “Pins” for my new “Board”, I picked a future launch date which was one week ahead.
I then clicked the “PUBLISH” button and was all set for that “Pin”.
When done, I moved forward and created another “Pin” and made sure it was on the same “Board” as the first Pin.

Wrapping Up Phase I

These steps got me up and running. As for dealing with issues like Claiming My Website on Pinterest, Verifying My Websites Tag, Collaborating, and Installing Rich Pins, those are matters for future blogs. Until then, Sayonara!

I am requesting that my readers click on the links provided and download a sample read of each book and give a review on Amazon. You will have free access to the first four chapters of each book. My hope is that you will like the story lines enough to obtain either an eBook version or a paperback copy that you can put on your bookshelf as a masterpiece when you are done. FATE STALKS A HERO I: RESURGENCE, FATE STALKS A HERO II:THE FIJI FULCRUM, and THE SAGA OF HERACLES PENOIT. I will be giving excerpts on these works in upcoming blogs to familiarize you the reader with exciting details about the contents of each one. Thank you!