How to Make Money on Pinterest in 2022 (8 Ways)
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Are you wondering how to make money on Pinterest?
Maybe you’ve heard about the bloggers who are making a full-time living thanks to Pinterest but you can’t understand how. Maybe you want to use it to make money as an influencer or you’ve heard it’s good for marketing. Or maybe you’re just intrigued about how you can leverage this growing platform to make a seriously lucrative side income.
Maybe you don’t believe that it can even be done. I mean making money on Pinterest? How would that even work?
It’s 100% possible. In fact, there are people just like you who are doing it every single day. And I should know – I work as a Pinterest Strategist, helping entrepreneurs, bloggers, and influencers to monetise themselves using Pinterest! In this post, I’m going to break down the 8 different ways that you can use Pinterest to make money in 2022.
Can You Get Paid to Pin on Pinterest?
A lot of people ask this question – can you get paid simply for pinning images on Pinterest, no other work required?
Until recently the answer was no. But Pinterest has now released a Creator Rewards programme. This is where Pinterest pays creators to make content on their platform. Pinterest issues a series of engagement-based goals inspired by trending topics or new features and creators will get paid if they meet the goal requirements.
This is currently only available in the US but hopefully will rollout to more countries in the near future!
But don’t fret, there are plenty of other ways that you can make money on Pinterest – just read on to find out how!
Can You Make Money on Pinterest without a Blog?
Yes!
There are a few different methods of making money on Pinterest. Some of them require a blog or website and some of them don’t!
I’ll be breaking each one down step-by-step, starting with blogging and finishing with alternative options! That way you can decide what would work best for you.
You also don’t need to be limited to just one of the things on this list. You could use multiple different methods to increase your income on the side or even start a whole new career!
Is it Easy to Make Money on Pinterest?
Most things worth having don’t come easy. You’ll definitely need to put some effort into learning how Pinterest works and how you can best optimise your pins and profile to be successful.
This isn’t a get rich quick scheme. You’ll need to do the work.
That being said, if you’re willing to do the learning, you’ll be good to go! It doesn’t take any complex technical expertise. In fact, most people would be highly capable of making money this way, if they only knew how to!
And unlike a 9-5 job, your earning potential is unlimited. Depending on how strategic you are with Pinterest, you could easily out-earn a regular job.
If you want to learn a little more about how to be successful on Pinterest, check out these blogposts:
Overview: 8 Ways to Make Money Using Pinterest
- Blog ad revenue
- Blog affiliate links
- Affiliate links on Pinterest
- Selling products
- Selling services
- Brand partnerships
- Creator fund
- Become a Pinterest manager or VA
Making Money Blogging with Pinterest
First, let’s take a look at the ways that Pinterest can make you money through blogging.
Blogging is one of the best ways to make money through Pinterest. Once you’re build a steady stream of traffic through Pinterest. You’ll be able to add a third revenue stream on top of the two I’m about to share with you: brand partnerships.
A lot of bloggers get almost all of their web traffic from Pinterest. This means Pinterest is the reason they’ve been able to become a full time blogger and make money through their blog/
Before you can do any of the blogging money-making options I’m about to share with you, you’ll need to set up a blog.
Steps for Setting Up a Blog to Make Money Online
1. Choose a Platform
I always recommend WordPress as this will give you the most flexibility, although it does have a steep learning curve. It provides lots of useful tools for search engine optimisation and is the favourite method amongst most successful bloggers.
Go for the paid version (rather than the wordpress.com version) as this will be much more professional. It’ll be easier to get your audience to trust your expertise and convince brands that they should work with you later on.
2. Choose Web Hosting
You’ll need to find a company to host your blog. This can be very inexpensive! I use this company and would recommend them to anyone starting out with blogging. They have a number of different payment tiers, so you can pick what’s right for you, depending on what stage you are in your journey.
3. Pick a Niche
Picking a niche will help your blog to show up more on both Pinterest and Google. This is really important, so don’t skip this step!
Here are some important things to consider when picking a niche:
- What are you passionate and knowledgeable about – you’ll be creating a lot of content, so it needs to be something that you feel happy and confident writing about
- What do people need – make sure there’s a demand for your niche. Pick something that people are already searching for. A great way to do this is using keyword research.
Some popular niches on Pinterest include:
- Recipes
- Home Decor
- Travel
- Business
- Finance
- Fashion
- Parenting
- Teaching
- Health
- DIY
- Entrepreneurship
There are lots of other niches however, that also do very well on Pinterest. This list is by no means exhaustive but hopefully it’ll provide you with some inspiration when picking your own niche!
4. Write Valuable Content
Once you’ve picked your niche, it’s time to write some valuable and useful content that is going to address any pain points your audience has and answer their questions.
The best way to know what content to write about is to do keyword research. I have a whole guide on how to do this here.
5. Set Up a Pinterest Business Account
Make sure to set up a business account on Pinterest. This is completely free and very simple to do.
This will give you access to your analytics so you can see what’s performing well and how you can improve to make as much money as possible.
6. Post Pins to Pinterest
When you write a blogpost, create some eye-catching pins for Pinterest. Make sure to post them using keywords and link them to your blogpost.
This will direct traffic to your blog!
It’s very important that you be strategic when posting your pins. I know I’ve mentioned it a lot already but keyword research really is the key to success here!
Make Money Blogging Using Pinterest
So you’ve set up your blog but you still don’t understand how you can make money posting on Pinterest?
Don’t worry – I’m going to break it down for you!
There are two main ways you can make money on Pinterest using a blog.
The first is through ad revenue and the second is using affiliate links.
Make Money on Pinterest with Ad Revenue
This is probably the simplest way to make money using Pinterest.
First you’ll need to sign up to put ads on your blog.
What ad provider you use will depend on how many views your currently getting on your blog. If you’re just starting out, you can use Google AdSense. Once you’ve grown your blog however, you might want to switch to something like MediaVine. This has a much higher rate of pay, so you’ll be making more money per view!
If you’re using Pinterest properly with lots of keywords, you should be able to grow your blog without too much trouble!
Each time someone clicks on one of your pinterest pins, they’ll be sent straight to your website. This is where they’ll see the ads.
You’ll be paid depending on the number of people who see these ads. Yes, you get paid for the amount of views, not the amount of times someone clicks on that ad!
Make Money on Pinterest with Affiliate Links
As well as using Adsense or Mediavine to make money on Pinterest, you can also use affiliate links or affiliate marketing. This has huge earning potential for your blog.
Just like with ads, you want to drive as many people to your blog as possible using your pinterest pins.
In your blog posts, you’ll need to use affiliate links. These are links to a product that are specific to you. They tell the brand that someone has come over from your website. To say thank you for this, the brand gives you a commission if the person buys using your link.
To get these links, you’ll need to sign up for an affiliate programme. There are loads of affiliate programs to choose from. Here are just a few:
- Awin – includes brands such as Etsy and ASOS
- Amazon Associates
- Rakuten Marketing Associates
Make sure to always disclose at the top of your blogpost that you are using affiliate links and that you will make a commission (at no extra cost to the individual), if they choose to purchase through your link.
Ideas for Affiliate Link Blog Posts:
- Create a resources page on your website including affiliate links to your favourite things
- Create a round-up or gift guide list using affiliate links
- Add affiliate recommendations to your blog posts when relevant – for example, I used a Bluehost affiliate link in this blogpost because it was useful and helpful to the reader!
Make Money on Pinterest Using Affiliate Links (without a Blog!)
Making money on Pinterest using affiliate links without a blog can be a little more tricky but is still possible!
Instead of linking your pin to your blog. And then adding affiliate links to that blogpost. You’ll need to add affiliate links directly to your pins.
This means that when someone clicks on your pins, they’ll be taken straight to the product page. You’ll then be paid a commission if they choose to purchase.
This only becomes tricky because Pinterest has a few rules that you absolutely MUST follow if you want to do affiliate marketing. If you don’t, your account is very likely to be deleted!
- Always disclose an affiliate link in the description of your pin
- Don’t mask or shorten the affiliate link – always focus on transparency and honesty when using affiliate links on Pinterest!
- Make sure the company you’re linking to actually allows affiliate links to be posted to Pinterest. Not all do, so it’s really important to read the fine print to avoid any mess!
- When posting affiliate links, Pinterest does not want you to mask or shorten the affiliate link. They want you to be as transparent as possible.
RECENT UPDATE: Pinterest has expanded its product tagging tool to include the Amazon Associates Program, so creators in the US are able to add affiliate links from Amazon and earn commission. For a long time, it wasn’t possible to use Amazon affiliate links on Pinterest, so this is great news for creators using the platform!
Make Money on Pinterest by Selling Products
Pinterest has integrated shopping into the platform, making it an integral part of the user experience.
It’s fairly straightforward to integrate your shop with Pinterest. The easiest platforms to do this with tend to be Shopify, BigCommerce, Squarespace. You can then pin your products onto Pinterest.
Product pins are how you sell on Pinterest. You can add product tags that will take the user directly to your product page.
Once again, it’s incredibly important to be using keywords properly in order for people to find your products on Pinterest.
You can learn more about keyword research using my free guide.
Ideas of products to sell on Pinterest:
- Courses
- E-books
- Printables
- Clothing
- Home Decor
- Educational Tools
Make Money on Pinterest by Selling Services
Pinterest is a great way to market your services. My favourite way of doing this is through content marketing and building an email list.
By creating great content that people are searching for, you’ll bring people to your website. From here, you can show them how knowledgeable you are in your field and direct them to your services or sales page. Try to create a lead magnet for your website, so you can build an email list. This is a great way to sell services!
I have a whole guide on using Pinterest to Grow Your Email List that breaks down everything you need to do, step-by -step!
Many creative entrepreneurs such as designers, coaches, copywriters, interior designers, and stylists have created huge businesses using the power of Pinterest.
Make Money on Pinterest through Brand Partnerships
Up until extremely recently, brand partnerships weren’t really a thing on Pinterest.
But now the platform has announced that they’re enabling them. You can now partner with a brand to create content featuring their products (and be paid for it!).
All you have to do is pitch some brands and create content for them. You’ll then have to add the ‘paid partnership’ label to your pin. This works similarly to brand partnerships on most other platforms, such as Tiktok and Instagram.
Aya Kanai, who’s the head of content and creator partnerships at Pinterest, said, ‘with this latest update, we’re empowering creators to reach millions of shoppers on this platform and monetise their work. Creators deserve to be rewarded for the inspiration they deliver to their followers and the sales they drive for brands’
The Pinterest Creator Fund
Pinterest has now released a Creator Rewards programme. This is where Pinterest pays creators to make content on their platform. They’re investing $20 million dollars into this programme to encourage people to use the platform.
So how does it work? Pinterest issues a series of engagement-based goals inspired by trending topics or new features and creators will get paid if they meet the goal requirements.
This is currently only available in the US but hopefully will rollout to more countries in the near future!
Make Money on Pinterest by Becoming a Pinterest Manager
If you understand Pinterest well and think you could help other bloggers, brands, or businesses to promote their content on Pinterest – you could be a VA or Pinterest Manager!
VAs or Virtual Assistants can help businesses and entrepreneurs with a number of different tasks. This can include:
- Emails
- Project management
- Pinterest Management
Most VAs have a certain area that they specialise in. Why not make your specialty Pinterest management?
A lot of bloggers and content creators don’t have time to be managing their own Pinterest account. Instead, they’ll pay you to do it for them!
If you want to charge more and you have more expertise, you could become a Pinterest Manager or Strategist.
This is what I do personally as a full-time job! I help brands to market themselves using the power of Pinterest.
I offer a range of services, including Pinterest Management, as well as Strategy sessions and group coaching that teaches people how to run Pinterest for their brand.
How much you can charge will depend on:
- How much expertise you have
- How much experience you have
- Who your clients are
- The results you create
Resources for Making Money on Pinterest
Keyword Research Guide
In order to make money on Pinterest, you really need to understand how the platform works and how you can optimise your posts so that they show up in search. If you’re not willing to do this, you’re probably not going to reap the financial rewards you’re hoping for!
The most important thing you can do is learn how to do keyword research properly. I have a completely free blogpost that details 4 methods of doing this. It’ll be super helpful in growing your Pinterest.
Tailwind Pin Scheduler
If you don’t want to be spending hours and hours on Pinterest every day, I’d recommend investing in Tailwind. It lets you schedule all of your pins, which will seriously cut down the amount of time you’ll need to post on Pinterest.
Canva
Canva is the best place to make eye-catching and high-converting Pinterest pins. Pin design is so crucial to making people click. Any old design won’t work, you have to be strategic!
I prefer using Canva Pro because it allows me to easily resize images I’ve created for Instagram, so that they’re the perfect size for Pinterest! Size matters on Pinterest!
Pinterest Templates
I sell a number of affordable Pinterest template packs (each one with 40 pin designs). You can find them here. They take out a lot of the work and you can customise them with your own fonts, photos, and colours.
Tips for Making Money on Pinterest
1. Don’t post to the same link over and over again
Pinterest will make this as spam. This could seriously damage the growth of your account. In fact, Pinterest might even close your account because of this! Make sure to spread out your pins when posting to the same link. And try to mix up the links you’re using as much as possible!
2. Disclose affiliate links
Always disclose in your pin description when something is an affiliate link. If you don’t, you could get in serious trouble with Pinterest, as well as external authorities! It’s better to be safe than sorry, so don’t post an affiliate link without letting everyone know exactly what it is!
3. Keep up to Date
Pinterest is always bringing in updates and new features. If you really want to make money with Pinterest, you need to keep up to date. This will ensure you’re operating within their best practice guidelines.
It also means that you can make the most of new features to increase your income using Pinterest! The first people to use a new feature are generally those who reap the benefits.
