Are you wondering how you can leverage Pinterest for your small business?

Pinterest is currently one of the hotest websites. For some businesses, Pinterest is delivering more user trafic than Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn combined.

For those of you who haven’t heard of Pinterest, here’s a brief summary: Pinterest is a free social sharing site launched in 2009. Pinterest invites people to “pin” images and videos from all over the web, to pinboards directly on Pinterest. You can, for example, pin images of your favorite wedding dresses if you’re preparing for a wedding, or your favorite cars if you’re a car enthusiast. Other people browse or search for images that interest them and when they find such images, they’ll share them with their own followers and friends by “repinning”, “liking” or commenting on the images and videos.

Pinterest offers a new channel for businesses to connect with existing and new customers. But is Pinterest right for your small business? Should you invest your time to learn yet another social network? How can you best leverage Pinterest to increase sales?

We answer these questions in the following 10 tips for how your small business can use Pinterest to increase traffic and sales.

1. Learn what’s popular on Pinterest. Pinterest’s value to your business is in its network effect. When you add an image to your Pinterest board, you want that image to be “repinned” or “liked”. The more times users engage with your image by repinning it, liking it or leaving a comment, the more exposure you’ll have.

Pinterest makes it easy for you to see what’s popular. Visit the Popular section of the site and you’ll see what other people are sharing, and their comments. Now ask yourself: what does your business do and how can you leverage similar images on your own Pinterest boards.

Don’t force the connection – if you are a financial consultant, would it help your business to post images of phone booths or cakes? Probably not. Try to find synergy between popular images and your company’s products or services.

To succeed on Pinterest, your images must be interesting – nobody will repin boring images. For example, if your small business is a bakery and you create fancy cakes, you should be posting original images of your cakes every time you create one. People love cakes.

2. Share other people’s content. It’s never enough to simply “pin” your own content. As you should do on all social networks, take the time to find and pin other people’s content.

You can find this content on Pinterest and repin it, or you can pin original content from sites you already visit.

Pinterest makes it easy to pin from the web – there are numerous extensions available for most browsers.

3. Set up topical pinboards. Avoid the urge to create one pinboard and pin everything there. Think about the types of things you’d like to pin and create topical pinboards to help you (and your potential customers) classify the images you’re pinning.

For example, our imaginary bakery might have the following pinboards: Beautiful wedding cakes, Weddings, Funny Cakes, Family Parties, Cake Recipes, etc.

Look at how your competitors or other companies are using Pinterest and the types of pinboards they’ve created. For example, the yogurt company Chobani has created a rich group of pinboards on many topics that interest its customers and potential customers.

If you are a painter, share images of painted rooms – ones you painted and others, as inspiration for your potential customers. If you create gift baskets, share images of your baskets and other unique gifts.

4. Add prices and promote you products. Don’t be shy about creating special pinboards to promote your products. You can easily add prices to your images – and use a pinboard to promote special sales. Threadless does this very effectively.

Even if you don’t add prices, you can promote your products on dedicated pinboards. For example, Nordstrom promotes different collections on separate pinboards.

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I was recently blessed with an iPhone and have fallen into the world of apps.  Lord knows all of us here at the cS offices love our apps.  Just last week Ross insisted all of us download SayHi Translate and speak to him in Swedish.  This is a true story, I encourage all of you to tweet at him for the details.

This week, my app honoree is AppMonsta.  If you and/or your company are in the process of developing a mobile app, look no further than this company.  AppMonsta is truly a one stop shop when it comes to brainstorming, researching, and developing.  Businesses are able to identify niches in the marketplace, gauge growth, and find publishers and developers.  And that’s just with their tool AppInsights. AppEverything allows users to identify the top apps in multiple countries, as well as collect social media metrics on popularity and reviews. There is also a weekly email available, AppHighlights, that gives a run down of top app downloads and other trends.  Overall, pretty rad.

AppMonsta used crowdSPRING in the development of their own app, Federal Job Search Pro, which connects the workforce with available government jobs.

The ever jovial Jeremy took some time to answer our Small Biz Questionnaire:

How would you explain what you do to somebody’s grandmother?

AppMonsta provides data about apps and app stores, helping companies make more informed decisions based on data.

What are some industry specific challenges you faced?  

We have worked hard to make the massive amounts of data into consumable products – boiling down our Big Data into even more useful and actionable insights for customers of all kinds.

What was your biggest learning curve/experience?

We’ve needed to learn a great deal more about databases, data structures, and the app stores as a whole. Every app store is different and every one has something valuable to offer to every type of business – its just a matter of finding it and highlighting it. Ask questions on our new blog (Ask AppMonsta) – we’ll answer all those we can with our data!  Read the rest of this post »

Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my own Twitter account, I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about logo design, web design, startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are some of the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week!

The image above is an ad created by TBWA for Moustaches Make A Difference – a campaign to raise support for prostate cancer research. More interesting ads in the Social Media and Marketing section below.

Growing Your Small Business Using Social Media: The Facts – http://bit.ly/JfbaI1

Web Tool of the Month: crowdSPRING – http://bit.ly/IIQ5GA

Lean Marketing: Delivering Customer Service via Social Media – http://bit.ly/ImKDaT

How to Increase Trust for a Landing Page Design – http://bit.ly/JZnGsr

Better Agile Than Smart – http://bit.ly/J9Di3c

The 5 Qualities of Remarkable Bosses – http://bit.ly/JN9J5a

Four Things to Get Right When Starting a Company – http://bit.ly/JewYHD

8 Core Beliefs of Extraordinary Bosses – http://bit.ly/Ja53TR

Six Myths of Product Development – http://bit.ly/IAYevk

When Selling is the Worst Way to Win Customers – http://hub.am/JYMXJ8

Building It Is Not Enough: 5 Practical Tips On User Acquisition – http://bit.ly/IMfZca

Unlimited Vacation Doesn’t Create Slackers–It Ensures Productivity – http://bit.ly/IPcnXs

Crowdsourcing taps public for work, money, ideas – http://bit.ly/KmvBUJ

If You’re Competing On Features You’ve Already Lost – http://bit.ly/KwmMKZ

Tips for small business (and startups): Negotiating With the New Recruit – http://bit.ly/J9uuqk

Growing Your Small Business Using Social Media: The Facts – http://bit.ly/JfbaI1

The Scarcest Resource at Startups is Management Bandwidth – http://bit.ly/JCo0xb

If You’re Not Pissing Someone Off, You’re Probably Not Innovating – http://bit.ly/JCnwqS

Unlimited Vacation Doesn’t Create Slackers–It Ensures Productivity – http://bit.ly/IPcnXs

Fred Wilson: what crowdfunding means for the VC business – http://bit.ly/Jesq3W

Good reminder about the importance of face to face communications – http://bit.ly/JexdlS

When Selling is the Worst Way to Win Customers – http://hub.am/JYMXJ8

Andreessen Horowitz Confirms Its Scout Program, Calls Out Lazy Angels Who Hate Competition – http://bit.ly/JesvER

Are You Willing To Pay For The Change You’re Demanding? – http://bit.ly/Kjc9It

VC Rights: Up, Down, And Know What The Fuck Is Going On – http://bit.ly/Je0IAy

The 5 Qualities of Remarkable Bosses – http://bit.ly/JN9J5a

8 Core Beliefs of Extraordinary Bosses – http://bit.ly/Ja53TR

Poor long term returns by VC funds, according to Kauffman Foundation – http://bit.ly/JesrVv

What I learned from raising venture capital – http://perfor.ms/yRB2WZ

Better Agile Than Smart – http://bit.ly/J9Di3c

Four Things to Get Right When Starting a Company – http://bit.ly/JewYHD

So what exactly is a tech company? – http://bit.ly/JesoZY

If You’re Competing On Features You’ve Already Lost – http://bit.ly/KwmMKZ

It’s Time to Rethink Continuous Improvement – http://bit.ly/KjbEhu

Taking E-Mail Vacations Can Reduce Stress, Study Says – http://nyti.ms/JO5YfT

Six Myths of Product Development – http://bit.ly/IAYevk

Crowdsourcing taps public for work, money, ideas – http://bit.ly/KmvBUJ

Early Startup Time Wasters – http://bit.ly/LJSEuP

The CEO who invented a cure for hiccups – and, oh, yes, she’s 13 – http://j.mp/Ja37uK

Sequoia Confirms Existence of “Stealth” Scout Program. Who’s Next? – http://bit.ly/KayBTX

The Maturation of the Billionaire Boy-Man – http://bit.ly/IEffbQ

How to Increase Trust for a Landing Page Design – http://bit.ly/JZnGsr

Lean Marketing: Delivering Customer Service via Social Media – http://bit.ly/ImKDaT

Is Facebook Larry Page’s Moby Dick? – http://onforb.es/INEEKx

Building It Is Not Enough: 5 Practical Tips On User Acquisition – http://bit.ly/IMfZca

Web Tool of the Month: crowdSPRING – http://bit.ly/IIQ5GA

After Timeline, Top 50 Brands See Facebook Comments Dip 11%, Likes Rise 11% – http://bit.ly/IPcGl0

Lean Marketing: Delivering Customer Service via Social Media – http://bit.ly/ImKDaT

Tips for small business (and startups): Negotiating With the New Recruit – http://bit.ly/J9uuqk

Building It Is Not Enough: 5 Practical Tips On User Acquisition – http://bit.ly/IMfZca

30 Sophisticated Ads To Give You Great Inspiration – http://bit.ly/JVYybF

Very shallow argument that Facebook is not a publisher, and thus should not be blamed for horrible ROI – http://bit.ly/K1C3Cj

Another Big Newspaper Says Digital Ads Shrank Last Quarter – http://dthin.gs/K7gvlZ

Klout to expand +K button – http://bit.ly/J7GmHy

50 More Humorous Print Advertisements to Make You Smile – http://bit.ly/JVYIQr

Creative Advertising In These 90+ Epic, Smart & Beautiful Ads – http://bit.ly/J93Xtu

Beautiful And Creative Advertising Design Ideas – http://bit.ly/Jfbt6A

22 Fresh And Free Fonts For Your Design – http://bit.ly/KA4usf

100 Ideas That Changed Graphic Design – http://bit.ly/JcxYMg

60+ High-Quality Graffiti Fonts for Your Design Works – http://bit.ly/KwTaHJ

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We’re previously written about ways that small businesses are using social media, how businesses can leverage social media to deliver customer service, and the innovative ways some businesses use social media.

There’s no clear consensus about social commerce and whether businesses should invest marketing dollars in social media. For example, Forrester Research, last year, released a report questioning whether retail stores should invest money in social media marketing efforts. In that report, Forrester and GSI Commerce concluded that retailers wasted money on social media efforts because social networks had little influence on online purchasing behavior.

However, more recent (and more authoritative) research questions and contradicts the conclusions reached by Forrester.

A report released earlier this year by Altimeter Group – The Rise of Digital Influence - discusses, among other things, digital influence and ways that companies can identify individuals with social capital who can increase word-of-mouth for a company’s marketing efforts.

While many studies have focused on the U.S., studies done in other countries reflect the same conclusion – friends do influence purchases on social networks. For example, a Harvard Business School study in Korea found that moderate users of social networks reflect a 5% sales increase over the average, based on the influence of their social network friends.

We’re seeing more and more credible research, including from Altimeter Group, suggesting that social influence does, in fact, translate into increased sales. Notably, a new report just released by Market Force suggests that 81% of U.S. consumers are influenced by their friends’ social media posts (The Market Force study measured 12,000 survey respondents – half in the U.S. and half in the UK. Respondents ranged in age from 18 to 65 years old – 75% were women (the primary household consumer purchasers).

Other studies reflect similar percentages. For example, a study conducted by the firm Chief Marketing Officer Council and Lithium, found that 80% of people are more likely to try new things based on their friends’ suggestions in social posts.

But here’s where it gets a bit more interesting – the Market Force study reveals that a comparable 78% of people are influenced by the companies‘ own social media posts (see following chart).

This data suggests that company-driven social media efforts can indeed drive purchasing decisions.

Some small businesses worry that their social media efforts will simply uncover a hornets nest – inviting consumers to publicly complain about those businesses. This is generally untrue. “Social media channels create an ideal two-way platform for direct conversations with customers. What’s striking is that consumers have more positive things to say than most brands realize,” according to Janet Eden-Harris, chief marketing officer for Market Force. “Using social media monitoring tools, brands can mitigate the downside by pulling negative comments into a private conversation, and maximize the upside by giving consumers an easy way to engage. There’s no reason not to take the plunge. Consumers are out there talking about you.”

Before you rush to start posting on social networks, you should understand that consumers are rarely interested in rich “content” – they care mostly about promotions, sales and giveaways, as the following chart from the Market Force report shows.

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Last year, I wrote a couple of posts about the process of hiring new employees and what applicants can do to help. Recruiting and hiring can be one of the more painful aspects to running a small business, but job applicants can go far to ease the process for those doing the hiring and, at the same time, improve their own chances of landing the job.

Today, we take a short leap forward in the action. Imagine that you have gone through the process – sorted through the applications, identified attractive candidates, completed two or three (or four) interview rounds, and taken the time to contact the personal and professional references provided. Now you have made your choice and  that incredibly talented rock star you want to hire wants the job (yes!) and is excited to start. Now comes the part that many entrepreneurs dread: negotiating the deal itself.

Compensation negotiations differ from other types of negotiations, because the goal is not just to get the best deal you can possibly wrest from the other side, but rather to get the person you want and to turn them into a happy, motivated, and productive member of the team. This is not to say that you can’t  draw on your experience negotiating with vendors, suppliers, and investors, but bear in mind that the compensation negotiation is a different beast and your goals are necessarily different. Classic negotiation strategies include thorough preparation, defining specific objectives, setting a reservation point, and working to understand your negotiating partner’s objectives and reservation point. Compensation negotiations include all of that but also need to emphasize, trust, open communication, flexibility, and a willingness to let the new hire drive the conversation and find the deal that will make them happy.

Here, then, are five tips for negotiating compensation for your new recruit:

1. Define your goals but understand theirs.
One of the key principals in negotiation strategy is to comprehend the other party’s goals and gain an understanding of what they are trying to accomplish from their side of the negotiation. In compensation negotiations the deal you are making should not just include an economic goal, but also must focus on the objective of gaining (and retaining) a valued employee. To achieve this objectives, it is critical that you take the time to really understand this person; what are they looking for professionally and personally and how can you help them to achieve this? When signing on to a new job, the recruit’s goals will always include their salary requirements, but will also include other, sometimes less tangible, rewards as well.

2. Remember it’s a person.
Your approach to the process must reflect and accommodate the recruit’s humanity. This is not an outsourced service you are bargaining for, nor is it a house you are purchasing – it is a member of your team and (if you have done a good job in selecting them) someone who will bring energy, experience, skills, and countless other contributions to your business. What is important to them? Obviously salary is critical, but what about work hours? Child care? Vacation time? Take plenty of time to understand what drives this person; ask good diagnostic questions, listen closely to their answers, and be sure to ask about this when you make those calls to their references. If you can achieve a good understanding of what is driving the recruit, you can effectively use this process to gain trust. Then take time to consider the ways you can create an offer which represents the ‘total’ package that will meet their needs and satisfy their negotiating goals

3. Consider the alternatives.
One of the first rules in negotiating is to assess your alternatives should the deal fall through. The “Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement,” or BATNA, is what will drive the decisions you make during the process and can help you to develop your reservation point. Is there another candidate whom you like? Does the position need to be filled today or can it remain vacant? Consider carefully how far you are willing to go before your BATNA becomes preferable to a negotiated deal. Also remember that the person you are recruiting has their own BATNA and if you can learn what that is, you have a meaningful advantage in reaching a deal. It is imperative that you not share your BATNA and you should assume that the recruit will protect theirs as well, but the more you can learn about it, the better your assumptions will be during the course f the negotiation.

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Every day on the crowdSPRING Twitter account and on my own Twitter account, I post links to posts or videos I enjoyed reading or viewing. These posts and videos are about logo design, web design, startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Here are some of the links that I’ve liked and shared this past week!

The video above shows why cats will never be as cool as dogs. Ever see a golden retriever dance the Merengue?

Lean Marketing: Delivering Customer Service via Social Media -http://bit.ly/JkbC4O

Lean Marketing: Delivering Customer Service via Social Media -http://bit.ly/JkbC4O

Illinois 3rd-worst in nation for business, CEO survey says -http://trib.in/IGNZHh

Traits of successful founders - http://perfor.ms/zlOEzG

The dirty secret behind the incubator boom - http://bit.ly/JVZmNX

Startup Founders: Don’t Freak Out - http://bit.ly/Ix80ko

VCs in Angels’ Clothing: The Sneaky New Trend of “Deal Scouts” in Silicon Valley - http://bit.ly/Ix8iI4

The 11 Harsh Realities Of Being An Entrepreneur -http://perfor.ms/y1q1uV

Lean Marketing: Delivering Customer Service via Social Media -http://bit.ly/JkbC4O

What Google Analytics New Social Reports Offer & What They Can’t - http://bit.ly/K2d5kc

Frustrated advertisers to Facebook: Take our money — please! - http://cnet.co/IYuJ7y

Traditional Advertising is Truly Dead - http://bit.ly/K2dfrR

$20m given to Kickstarter games projects, but only 25 per cent succeed - http://bit.ly/Ju9YNX

30 Sophisticated Ads To Give You Great Inspiration -http://bit.ly/JVYybF

50 More Humorous Print Advertisements to Make You Smile -http://bit.ly/JVYIQr

30 Spectacular Red Business Cards - http://bit.ly/ImKxQw

60+ High-Quality Graffiti Fonts for Your Design Works -http://bit.ly/KwTaHJ

Rough Concrete Tiles: Texture Pack - http://bit.ly/ImKunD

50 Amazing business cards - http://bit.ly/JVYAR5

30+ Examples Of Brilliant Typography Designs - http://bit.ly/JVYDvZ

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Last summer, we announced that we would issue a monthly cS Award to honor quality work by designers and writers in the crowdSPRING community.

May cS Award

The May cS Award of $1,000 will be given to a designer who does the most to upgrade their crowdSPRING portfolio in the next 4 weeks.

To be eligible, you must upload, during the month of May, at least five (5) new portfolio items. In case of a tie, the award will go to the creative who has the highest average buyer score for their entries in May.

You do not need to win a project to be eligible for the May award.

Good luck to everyone!

And now…. the April cS Award Winner….

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In our 12 Questions blog series, we feature interviews with someone from the crowdSPRING community. For these interviews, we pick people who add value to our community – in the blog, in the forums, in the projects. Plainly – activities that make crowdSPRING a better community. Be professional, treat others with respect, help us build something very special, and we’ll take notice.

We’re very proud to feature Tiffany Silverberg (crowdSPRING username: TiffSilverberg ) today. Tiffany lives and works all over the United States.

1. Please tell us about yourself.

I’m a marketing writer and consultant – which means I work with small businesses and entrepreneurs to help them develop their brand and tell their story. I work from home, for myself, which frees me up to travel and explore! I move often with my husband’s job so I love having the chance to get to know new communities and the businesses that drive the local economy.

2. How did you become interested in writing?

I’ve always been completely obsessed with languages and the ability to communicate. I grew up moving a lot – much as I do now – and had the chance to learn Cantonese and Spanish. When I went to college, at the University of California Berkeley, I studied linguistics, with research in language development among Deaf children. I also took Danish linguistics, Latin, conversational Spanish, and of course American Sign Language classes. All that random knowledge sort of coagulated into my job now – which to me is still all about communicating.

3. Who/what are some of the biggest influences on your writing?

All the great copywriters that produced the retro magazine ads of the 1960′s and 1970′s really inspire me. It was an age when words were respected and manipulated to say the cleverest things. I keep old ads all around my desk. On a more philosophical level, I’ve always adored Jane Austen’s ability to draw out the nature of women in her books in a way that we fellow women can both appreciate and learn from. I want my story telling to be the same way. Lighthearted, but thoughtful.

4. Please tell us about your favorite projects.

Really practically, I love doing projects that force me to pull out a few thesauruses and dictionaries and delve into the etymology of words. I love to swim in words. But from the clients’ perspective, if I had to choose one project, it would probably be bios. I love helping my clients see themselves in a new light.

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