How to Use Pinterest to Promote Your Freelance Writing Business

As a freelance writer I was a bit slow on the uptake when Pinterest casually sidled into mainstream social media. In fact, I had absolutely no idea how to use Pinterest to promote my freelance writing business and actually assumed it wasn’t worth my while.

Fast forward a few months and not only do I have a Pinterest account but I’m an active member (and have to admit it’s really quite fun). One of the major pluses of Pinterest, aside from its visual appeal is that it’s not nearly as time consuming as other social media sites.

What’s more, although it doesn’t bring in anywhere near as much traffic as the likes of Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin, it does lead those to my writing website that probably wouldn’t have visited otherwise.

All this has made me wonder whether Pinterest is a whole new potential audience in the waiting…

How to use Pinterest when you’re used to conveying with words – not images

If you have a book, Pin what inspired it

For fiction this could include images from films, theatre, art or other books. For non-fiction, well, pretty much the same. As a writer you’re almost certainly already aware that anything can have the potential to inspire. The thing to remember with Pinterest is that you can get creative and really delve outside the restraints of your usual niches to see where it leads you.

If you don’t have a book (or even if you do) Pin covers of other books that inspire you

You might only want to Pin images that relate to your niche or you might want to create a more personal board of the books that have inspired you throughout your life. Check out my board on ‘Books that Change Lives’ as an example of this.

Use quality images throughout your website/blog and include clearly visible ‘Pin It’ buttons

It stands to reason that if you want people to Pin and share images that link back to your website or blog you should use great images that encourage sharing – and then make it easy for people to do so.

Search for bright and colourful images with inspirational quotes on

Just because Pinterest equals pictures it doesn’t mean you can’t use words at all. Although I haven’t been on Pinterest that long, I’m already seeing that it’s the inspirational quotes on appealing backgrounds that are shared the most. (Ditto with Facebook actually.)

Pin other people’s posts about writing and beyond

The lowest maintenance of all the social media sites, Pinterest lets you easily share other people’s content with a simple ‘Pin it’ button. (It used to be called ‘Repin’ apparently.) Use this simple tool to interact and share great content just as you would with a retweet on Twitter or a share on Facebook.

Get off the beaten track and Pin your other interests

As touched on in the first tip it’s possible (and oh-so-easy) to explore your other interests with Pinterest. This is truly a social media site where sharing your personal interests with the community is encouraged, even if they’re not related to your freelance writing or blogging niche. Plus you never know what leads you could create for your freelance writing career by publicly expanding your areas of interest.

>> The content of this post is taken from my freelance writing Udemy course.

Get step-by step instructions on how to earn a living from freelance writing online, including pitching templates and proven strategies to attract writing clients, in the