What is Pinterest all about?

When you have your ear to the ground with social media, you have heard lately a lot about Pinterest.  Pinterest is an online pinboard on which you share and organize ideas in the form of pictures.  You can pin videos as well. I looked at it and decided to give it a try.  I started first with one board (http://pinterest.com/wlugosantiago/social-media-marketing-for-coaches/), then added another (http://pinterest.com/wlugosantiago/places-i-have-been/) – and before I knew it, I was hooked.  It is a wonderful visual tool to show the world what you are about and what you like.

I also like the ease with which you can pin the pictures to your boards.  You just add a bookmarklet to your browser and then whenever you see something that you want to pin, you click on the bookmarklet.

You can choose to which board you want to pin the information and write a little bit about it as well.

For me, I see it as a great place to collect all the great articles I see about a specific topic.  When I am interested in something (like Pinterest right now), I usually research the topic in depth before I jump in.  A lot of times, I bookmark articles that I really like.  Unfortunately, a lot of times, I can’t find them anymore after some time since I did not add them to the right folder (or just simply did not add them to any folder).  Pinterest solved this rather nicely for me.  I can add a board about the topic I am interested in and add all the articles I found in that board.  Easy to find and easy to share. Here is my board about Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/wlugosantiago/pinterest-articles/.  Enjoy all the great articles about the topic!

Another great benefit is that you can connect your Pinterest to Facebook and Twitter and send an update out whenever you pin something new.  A very visual AND a very social tool.

For sure, you can add your own posts and products as well and market them through this new medium.  For me, the benefit lies more in sharing information in a very visual form.  Try it out and let me know what you think in the comments!