How To Grow Your Audience And Make Money On Pinterest

Let’s talk about one of the most underrated platforms for growing an audience and making real money online, Pinterest. Now if you’re still thinking Pinterest is just for DIY crafts and dream wedding boards let me stop you right there. Pinterest is actually a visual search engine yep, just like Google but prettier and it’s an absolute goldmine for creators, bloggers and small business owners.

Whether you’re a blogger, coach, Etsy seller or digital product creator Pinterest can be the thing that gets your brand in front of millions of eyeballs every month. And yes it can totally become a reliable source of passive income too.

So if you’re ready to grow your audience and start making money with Pinterest let’s break it all down step by step with no fluff, just strategy and maybe a few emojis because Pinterest is fun okay?

First, Why Pinterest?

Before we dive into the how let’s quickly cover the why.

Unlike Instagram or TikTok where your content disappears after a day or two Pinterest keeps working for you for months even years. Pins you create today can drive traffic to your site next week, next month and next year.

Pinterest users are action takers. They come to the platform to plan, shop and make decisions. That means they’re already in the mindset to click, save and buy. And that’s exactly what makes Pinterest so powerful for monetization.

Step 1: Set Up Your Pinterest Profile for Success

Let’s start at the top with your profile.

This is your little corner of Pinterest so make sure it’s working for you.

 Convert to a Business Account

First things first Switch to a Pinterest Business Account because it’s free. This gives you access to analytics, the Pinterest Ads Manager and other juicy features you’ll need down the road.

 Optimize Your Profile

Use a clear profile photo because your face is great if you’re a personal brand and write a keyword-rich bio. Think about who you’re helping and what kind of content you’re sharing.

Example: “Helping busy moms simplify dinner with easy recipes | Weekly meal plans, slow cooker meals & grocery hacks”

Also add your website link and claim your domain that’s how you get your pins to be associated with your site.

Step 2: Set Up Your Boards Like a Pro

Think of your boards like mini content hubs. They organize your pins and help Pinterest understand what your content is all about.

 Use Keywords in Board Titles + Descriptions

Pinterest is a search engine remember? So your board titles should use keywords that real people are searching.

Bad: “My Style Inspiration Board”
Better: “Casual Outfits for Women” or “Spring Capsule Wardrobe Ideas”

Each board should have a clear searchable title and a juicy keyword-filled description. This helps Pinterest show your content to the right people.

 Create Niche-Specific Boards

Stick to boards that align with your content. If you’re a food blogger for example have boards like:

• 30 Minute Dinner Ideas

• Healthy Lunch Recipes

• Crockpot Meals for Busy Moms

If it’s not related to your niche don’t pin it or keep it on a secret board.

Step 3: Create Click-Worthy Pins

This is where the magic happens. Your pins are what bring people to your site, shop or digital products so they need to be scroll stopping.

 Design Eye Catching Pins

Use tools like Canva to create branded pin templates. A good pin includes:

• A vertical format (1000x1500px is the sweet spot)

• Bold readable text overlays

• High-quality images

• Your website URL or logo for branding

Oh and keep your fonts and colors consistent. You want people to recognize your pins when they see them in their feed.

 Use Keywords in Pin Titles + Descriptions

This is huge. You must treat your pin titles and descriptions like SEO content.

Example Pin Title:
“10 Healthy Crockpot Meals for Busy Weeknights”

Example Pin Description:
“Looking for easy dinner recipes? These healthy crockpot meals are perfect for busy moms who want to save time and still eat well. Includes chicken, beef and vegetarian options!”

See what we did there? Keywords galore without sounding robotic.

 Use Pinterest Trends

Want to see what’s hot on Pinterest right now? Head to Pinterest Trends and search your niche. You’ll get a feel for what’s trending so you can create content around those topics.

Step 4: Be Consistent (Even If You’re Not Posting Every Day)

Pinterest isn’t about posting 15 times a day but it’s about showing up regularly with high quality content.

 Batch Create & Schedule Pins

Use a scheduler like Tailwind or Pinterest’s built-in scheduler to plan a week’s worth or more of content in advance. This keeps your account active without gluing you to your laptop.

 Aim for 3-10 pins per day

That might sound like a lot but remember you can create multiple pins for the same blog post or product. Just change up the design or wording a bit to test what performs best.

Step 5: Drive Traffic To Something Valuable

Now let’s talk about where your pins are sending people because that’s where you start growing your audience and making money.

 Drive Traffic to Your Blog or Website

If you’re a blogger your blog should be your pin destination. From there you can grow your email list, promote affiliate links or sell products.

Each blog post can have 5-10 different pins all linking back to the same page. That’s 5-10 different chances to be seen and clicked on.

 Create Freebies and Grow Your Email List

One of the smartest ways to monetize Pinterest traffic is to offer a freebie (opt-in) that grows your email list.

Examples:

• Free meal plan (for food bloggers)

• Printable planner (for productivity coaches)

• Canva templates (for digital creators)

Your pin leads to a blog post or landing page which leads to a freebie which leads to your email list and that’s where the real monetization begins.

Step 6: Make Money On Pinterest (Let’s Get To It)

Okay now that you’re growing traffic let’s talk money.

Here are some popular ways creators are cashing in on Pinterest traffic:

1. Affiliate Marketing

You can link directly to affiliate products or use your blog as the middleman.

Direct linking is allowed but Pinterest is picky. Always disclose with #affiliate in your description and make sure the platform you’re promoting like Amazon allows it.

The better strategy?
Write a helpful blog post featuring affiliate products then pin that. People love lists like:

• “10 Amazon Finds for a Cozy Living Room”

• “My Favorite Skincare Products for Glowy Skin”

Bonus tip: Use affiliate focused pins with product mockups or side by side comparisons.

2. Sell Your Own Products or Services

Do you offer coaching? Sell digital downloads? Run an online shop?

Create pins that lead directly to:

• Your product sales page

• Your Etsy store

• Your digital shop (Gumroad, Shopify)

• Your “work with me” page

Pinterest users love free stuff but they’re also ready to shop especially when it solves a problem or fits a seasonal need.

3. Grow Your Email List → Sell via Email

Pinterest traffic is cold but people may not buy from you right away. But if you can get them on your email list with a valuable freebie you can nurture them into buyers over time.

Use email sequences to:

• Recommend affiliate products

• Offer coaching spots

• Promote your digital courses or ebooks

• Upsell them into your membership or services

This is where you turn traffic into trust and trust turns into sales.

Step 7: Check Your Analytics + Tweak What’s Working

Once you’ve been pinning for a few weeks it’s time to take a peek at what’s working.

Go to Pinterest Analytics → Overview.

Pay attention to:

• Top pins by clicks (what’s driving traffic?)

• Top boards by engagement

• Audience insights (what are they searching for?)

Also check your Google Analytics to see how much of your website traffic is coming from Pinterest and what people are doing once they land on your site.

Tip: Double down on what’s working. If a pin style or topic is doing well then create more variations of it.

Conclusion

Pinterest is like planting a little garden of pins. At first not much happens. But give it some love, a solid strategy and a few months and suddenly things start to bloom.

You don’t need to be a designer, a full-time blogger or have thousands of followers to make Pinterest work for you. All you need is:

 Great content
 Smart SEO (aka keywording your pins + boards)
 Consistency
 A place to send your traffic (blog, shop, email list)
 A monetization plan

So whether you’re dreaming of turning your blog into a business, selling your own products or finally getting paid for those affiliate links Pinterest could be your new best friend.