How Pinterest Might Work For You

If you take good photos and feel reasonably tech competent, you might take a pass or two at Pinterest. Yes, it’s another social media site and I wouldn’t blame you a bit if you threw up your hands and said ‘no more!’ And a real truth is you can probably do very nicely in your real estate career with just your iHOUSE website and maybe Twitter , Google + and Facebook accounts.

On the other hand, there are reports of real estate agents making good use of Pinterest, so you may find it worth considering. According to Realtor®Mag, Mike Gardner of Malibu, CA sold a half-million dollar property just five days after he created and posted a Pinterest  ‘board.’

What is Pinterest?

The word, pinterest, is a mashup of the idea you can pin (photos) of your interests – and the place to pin them is where others may find them. Hence the Pinterest site.

When you go there you create your login. You also have the option of linking to your Facebook and Twitter accounts which will jam your Pinterest page with their photos. I don’t think you want to do this right away – do some experimenting. If you like the results your getting, come back and link your other social media to it.

Pinterest allows, in theory, unlimited photos,. If you’ve got a special listing that needs more than the 20 or so photos you can get on your iHOUSE site, it might make sense to post those to Pinterest.

Be sure to upload an image of yourself when you register and set up your profile. People want to know what the person they’re dealing with looks like.

Creating a board for specific markets

Boards are where folks using Pinterest display their interests. You’ll find everything from boards about pets and lemon cake to, yes, real estate.

Creating a board on Pinterest is super easy. Just click the white cross on the red background up on the right, next to your name. The third choice on the drop down menus is: Create a board.

Do some advance planning.

One obvious use of a board is to create one for each listing. But don’t limit yourself. Some agents are having good success by creating boards aimed at specific buyers. Hence you’ll find boards dedicated to:

• Waterfront Homes
• Perfect kitchens
• Staging your home
• Great outdoor spaces for summer
• etc. etc. etc.

You get the idea. These boards can have pictures of present and past listings that exemplify the idea. They demonstrate your knowledge and show how you understand the nuances of a buyer’s decision.

Note too that boards can be aimed at both buyers and sellers. Boards for sellers can help you find new listings.

You can also create a board about you, with pictures of you, your family, and you doing some of your favorite activities.

Pining and being pinned

Pinterest, of course, was designed to show off pictures. As the company says in it’s welcome email:

Pinterest is as much about discovering new things as it is about sharing!

Your adapting that purpose to your real estate business. You want to post really good and interesting pictures.

For example, a causal shot of the laundry room probably makes sense on your iHOUSE website. That’s not going to attract much attention on Pinterest.  Instead, try for an art-type shot of the special washbasin, or a really good looking display of guest towels.

One of your goals is to have pictures that are interesting enough for people to pin to their boards – it’s sort of networking by photos.

Does Pinterest make sense for you?

Does working with Pinterest make sense for you and your kind of real estate business?

The answer is a great big MAYBE!

If you’re going to spend time with social media marketing, you want to make sure you’ve got the big three (witter , Google+ and Facebook) in place first.

If you also happen to be good at interesting photos, or want to develop that skill, give Pinterest a try. Experiment with some boards. Ask other agents what, if anything, they’re doing with Pinterest. Track your efforts and your results. You’ll soon know if it’s worth continuing from a business point of view.

Are you using Pinterest in your real estate business? Tell us about it in comments.