I managed to claim my blog yesterday - I’m on blogger (yes I know it’s old school but I like it.)
I used this video to help me do it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_2GBmBD9zg
I noticed Folksy have put out some posts on FB/Insta, pushing for us to add our shop to our social media platforms - and they explicity reference Pinterest. I have replied to the FB one, asking how best to do this.
Here is the link so we can all see what their advice is when they respond. https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=800534305446890&set=a.552473100253013
Hi Janet @janetwilliamson, yes Loiuse’s instructions were fab - I managed to sort out my query very quickly.
Are there any priority areas you (or anyone else) would like step by step guides on? I’m sure that between us, we can pull together written "how-to"s on most aspects - if people would prefer that to links to videos etc (or as well as links). We just need to know which people want first - so go ahead and ask.
I’ll have a go at Creating pins from scratch in the morning, as that’s been commented on earlier today.
Hi Sharon. I have found this is true as well. So what I do when I list a new item on my Folksy shop is use the “pin” button on my listing to post the item to either the “earrings”, “necklaces” or “bracelets” board in my Pinterest account, then I create a branded pin in Canva from scratch which I post to my “My Jewellery” board.
Hi Judy, I am also starting up a website through Sumup. I understood that you have to buy your domain name before you can claim it. Are you on the Facebook group for sumup users in the UK? I find it really quite helpful.
Hi Chris
I didn’t know about the Facebook page, I saw one called Sumup User Support Group - is that the one? I searched on it for website info but couldn’t see anything right away. I just followed the link on the Sumup website about opening your website for free. It didn’t say anything about a domain name or ask for money and was really easy to set up. I asked on sumup website help about linking website to pinterest but nothing relevant came up.
Creating a pin - direct pinning or create from scratch
Most of us probally already do a lot of direct pinning from Folksy, and that is very useful in creating what is called a “rich pin”. It automatically pulls through the details from the site, including title and price, as well as a link back to the product. But it has limitations - I find you can’t change the description to add better search terms or hashtags, and of course you can’t edit it later, and just have to delete it once the item is sold.
Creating a pin from scratch has more flexibility both when first making it, and then editing later. You can also use different images than the ones in your listing - perhaps one you’ve created in Canva, or one that is a better size or shape (Folksy prefers square photos, Pinterest prefers portrait)
Both styles of pins are useful - I am trying to do a mix of both.
How to create a pin from scratch
Open Pinterest and go to your profile
Click on your “saved” tab not created
Click on the + sign - the same one you use to create a board
Click in the box to upload an image from your saved files, or drag if that works for you. (There is another option to create from URL but I won’t cover that here)
The image then appears in a box with sections where you can add your own tite and description. You can use hashtags in the description if you like
Copy and past the link you want the pin to go to - in my example below I have chosen my Folksy shop, but it could be any url
Choose which board you want to put it in (or leave blank to just add to your profile
You can add tagged topics - type a few letters in and you pick from a list
Your actions are saved as you go, so you can just close it before publishing, and it will remain as a draft for 30 days.
Click publish (top right) when you are ready, and your pin will be live
You can also choose to publish at a future date/time - the publish button changes to schedule .
I think to claim your website on Pinterest, you have to either be able to insert some html code or a text file in your root directory of the website, as you don’t ha e access to this on Folksy, I would imagine that you cad it on Pinterest for Folksy, I pretty sure I did when I had my own website, well I think I did
Yes, you need to be able insert some code - which you can only do if you own and have the right access to a website. And apparently it’s at the highest level (the landing page), so only one pinterest account can claim a website. Obviously Folksy will have already claimed themselves for their own Pinterest account.
I was able to claim my blog page yesterday (I’m on blogger).
If anyone needs help doing this, just shout. I can’t add a simple “how to guide” as it’s not the same for every site, but between us I’m sure we can find a suitable link online.
So as they say, you can add your Folksy website to your profile even though you can’t claim it. It still shows as a clickable link directly through to your website, so people can shop. I have tried it and it works (I just chose to change it to my blog site instead as I want to try and promote that at the moment).
For those that are not sure how to add a website, go to you profile and paste your url into the box. You can do it on either a business or personal account - it looks exactly the same
Claiming website
If you have a Big Cartel shop you can claim your website. You need to be on a paid plan, the cheapest is around £8 a month depending on the exchange rate as billed in dollars. I’m in the process of setting up a shop with them and they’ve been really good so far. Their live chat is great. Considering they’re USA based they answer quickly and don’t baffle you with terminology.
Louise x
SEO Question
Hi everyone
I love this post already as Pinterest is a platform that I’m really keen to use for my business. I’ve been creating a new pin and posting to Pinterest every day for around 2 years and just don’t find that I’m getting much traffic so I’m obviously doing something wrong or expecting too much. The questions that I would love to know the answer to are:
How many pins a day are you creating and are you managing successful organic growth or are you using paid ads?
Is 1 new pin a day just too few?
Also, why does Pinterest sometimes not show the description that I’ve written, it’s still there when I look to edit the pin? Will a hidden description still work for SEO?
Sorry for having so many questions. Pinterest feels a bit like a black art at the moment.
If it’s of any help to anyone I would recommend using Canva to create pins, it’s really straight forward.
This is a great idea. You are so public spirited to get it going. I watched a recent webinar on it but do need to know about using my current Pinterest account for business. I guess I just need to make all my boards private and only leave open access to my ‘work related’ board?
Fired with enthusiasm I have set up a pinterest account for charlescottagestudio. I then went to my Folksy account to try and add an item but there is no pin button on the picture/item, so how do I add it? Or do I use my own picture and just a link to the page? Sorry. Know I am being a dinosaur!
I’m not sure if you are thinking of converting your personal account into a business one and keeping some personal boards, or leaving it personal and just adding business boards. But the principle is the same - and it’s also the same if you have two separate accounts.
It’s up to you. You don’t have to keep everything private - as the other comments in this thread indicate, many of us have open boards if we think our customers/target audience would appreciate seeing them. So go ahead and leave your gardening or DIY boards open if you like - but I suggest you carefully curate them so they look as good as your business boards (high quality images and the same sort of vibe) and remember to clear them out when they get cluttered.
Anything that is really personal to you definately needs to be private, and I’d suggest you also hide boards that don’t sit well with your brand or you know will be a jumbled mess (I have a lot of them in my private account )
I also use private boards to hold info that’s useful to my business but not for public view - inspiration/ideas boards, tips on sucessful craft businesses, guides on how to work out tax, fabric suppliers etc.
Creating pins
I think its a good idea to do both direct pins from Folksy (or other websites), and pins you create from photos - there are comments on earlier in the thread that give some of the pros and cons of each type.
I can easily directly pin from Folksy using my phone, as I just use the share button (shout if you are not familiar with it)
But that isn’t always possible on laptops. If you can’t see a “pin” button when you hover over or right-click an image on a website, so you may need to add a Pinterest Save “extention” on your browser. Apparently different browsers need it done slightly differently. I’m not tech minded but I managed to do it for Firefox using this article Add the Pinterest Save extension
Once you have added it, you should then see a pin save button appearing on top of images. It sometimes disappears (upgrades/quirks/being contrary etc) and you will need to reinstall the extension.
Hope it works for you. If not, shout and hopefully someone more tech minded can help.
) and I’ll edit it. I can also do close up images if helpful.
.