How to Make Money on Pinterest for Beginners (2022)

If you want to learn how to make money on Pinterest for beginners, then keep reading! This post will cover exactly how you can earn up to $100+ a day just by playing on Pinterest.

430 million active users in 2021? This means it can be a great platform to learn how to make money on.

This can help you pay off debt faster, save money for a downpayment on a home, or make paying the bills each month easier. Today you’ll walk away from this post knowing how to make this reality possible!

If you told me a few years ago that I would be making a living from Pinterest, I would’ve never believed you.

Pinterest was new to me and I really didn’t understand how it worked. I thought people used Pinterest to create inspiration boards or get ideas for dinner.

I didn’t know that each image linked back to a website or that it was even possible to make money from Pinterest.

It was only just a few years ago that I realized Pinterest was a visual search engine. So, instead of Googling recipes to make for dinner, I would search for ideas on Pinterest.

Pinterest is now my go-to website for whenever I need to search for something online. Whether I’m looking for travel tips, home décor ideas, beauty hacks, or even minimalist living tips – I can find it all on Pinterest.

In this post you’ll learn:

• How to make money on Pinterest for beginners
• How to start a blog that makes money on Pinterest
• How to create content for your blog that people are searching for on Pinterest
• How to set up a business account on Pinterest
• How to claim your website, apply for rich pins, and set up your Pinterest profile
• Tip for creating pins that make people want to click-through to your website
• How to make money on Pinterest without a blog

Related Posts:

• How to become a blogger and make money
• 30+ things you can sell to make money right now
• 10 mistakes every beginner blogger makes

1. Make money on Pinterest with a Blog

If you’re interested in making money on Pinterest, then you NEED a website. This is the easiest way to earn money with Pinterest.

Can you make money on Pinterest WITHOUT a blog?  Yes. BUT it’s very difficult.

Having a blog or website and pinning on Pinterest goes together like peanut butter and jelly.

When you have a website and use Pinterest effectively, that’s when the magic starts to happen!

Maybe you already have a website and use Pinterest, but you’re not seeing results. I used to be in this situation a few years ago too.

I signed up for a Pinterest Business account and pinned every single photo from my blog to Pinterest.

Then I sat there and waited for my content to go viral. But the truth is, nothing happened. I got ZERO traffic to my blog from Pinterest. My first Pinterest experience was an epic FAIL!

My horizontal photos looked awesome on my blog and received good engagement on Instagram, but they received NO engagement on Pinterest.

My Pinterest account was basically a case study of what NOT to do to make money on Pinterest.

Does this sound like you too? Don’t worry, you can easily fix this and start making money on Pinterest.

I gave up on using Pinterest during the first two years of my blogging journey. Then I bought Pinteresting Strategies, which helped me learn how to quickly grow my Pinterest presence and make money online.

Compared to other Pinterest courses, Pinteresting Strategies is very affordable and Carly, the course creator is always adding new content to make sure that her students have the most up-to-date Pinterest strategy information.

STEP 1: Start a website (it’s easy and cheap)

Before you can start making money on Pinterest, you need to have a website. I recommend using a self-hosted website.

PRO TIP: Professional bloggers are self-hosted as this gives you the right foundation to make money on Pinterest. I recommend THIS web hosting because it only costs a few dollars per month and it’s one of the top web hosting companies. Plus, they have 24/7 customer service which is great.

This is the same web hosting company I used when I first started my blog. It’s the best option for beginners who want to start their own website for cheap.

Can I just start a free blog? I know you’re probably thinking you can start a blog for free on Blogger, but this is a big mistake!

You do NOT want to choose a free blogging platform because they don’t allow you to make money from display advertising or affiliates. These two are ESSENTIAL to making money from blogging and Pinterest.

It’s nearly impossible to make money from free Blogger websites. Many advertisers don’t view them as professional as self-hosted WordPress blogs.

That’s why I always recommend starting your blog the RIGHT way to anyone who wants to make money online.

It only costs $2.95 USD per month to start your own blog when you sign up for the Basic Plan through my tutorial.

This is a special price that is only available to Mint Notion readers, plus it includes a FREE domain name.

Get access to my complete step-by-step tutorial here: How To Start A Money-Making Blog In Minutes

For my fellow Canadian friends, check out this guide: How to start a blog that makes money in Canada

STEP 2: Create content for your blog

Content is king in the blogging world. The key to creating awesome content is to write blog posts people actually want to read.

This means you need to write blog posts that people are SEARCHING for on Pinterest.

For example, people are probably not searching for how your weekend went with your family. However, they might be searching for crowd-pleasing dinner recipes to serve at their next holiday party.

Do you notice the difference? People want to know how they will benefit from reading your blog post. Before a visitor will click to read one of your blog posts, they will always ask themselves – “What’s in it for me?”

Not sure what content you should create? I recommend choosing a blog niche (topic) you’re passionate about.

Many people pick a niche because they think it’ll be easy to make money. But this is a bad idea. It almost NEVER works and you’re readers will see right through you. You need to love what you write about.

PRO TIP: Your ideal blog niche will be a combination of your passion, knowledge, and profitbility.

Read Next: How to choose a profitable blog niche

For more tips on how to start a successful blog, I recommend signing up for my free 5-day blogging course. You can sign up in the form below!

STEP 3: Set up your Pinterest account

Pinterest is a visual search engine and it’s a highly effective way to grow your blog. One of the reasons why I love Pinterest so much is because you don’t need to have a large following to drive traffic to your blog.

It really comes down to creating Pinterest graphics that make people want to click through and read your post. Here’s what you need to do to set up and optimize your Pinterest account:

1. Set up a Business account on Pinterest

It’s completely free to set up a Business account on Pinterest. Having a Business account on Pinterest is super important if you want to make money because:

• You cannot use a personal Pinterest account for business purposes. (I converted my Personal account into a Business account to make sure I was following the rules and regluations for Pinterest).
• It also gives you access to Pinterest analytics. This will give you helpful information such as how many people are seeing your pins and which pins receive the most clicks.
• A Business account also gives you access to rich pins, advertising (if you want to do promoted pins), and other income-generating features.

2. Claim your website

Claiming your business website will let you add a link to your website on your Pinterest profile (which is super important) and get access to your Pinterest anayltics.

To claim your website, you’ll need to add a bit of code to your website (which is easy even for a non-techie like me).

3. Set up and apply for rich pins

Rich pins are free to apply for and they will help your content stand out on Pinterest. There are three tipes of rich pins that you can use:

• Product Pins – This is great for those who sell products on their website. It shares real-time pricing, where to buy and availability.
• Recipe Pins – This includes serving sizes, cooking times and ingredients.
• Article Pins – This includes the headline of your article, the author and a story description.

4. Add keywords to your profile bio, board descriptions, and pins

Since Pinterest works like a search engine, it’s important to optimize your profile with keywords. This will make it easy for people to find your content when searching on Pinterest.

I recommend creating at least five boards for your profile. Ideally, these boards should all be related to your blog niche.

Don’t forget to add a description for each board which is good for Pinterest SEO (search engine optimization).

For example, I blog about saving money, making money, budget travel tips and intentional living. My Pinterest boards reflect these topics.

5. Pin, Pin, Pin! 

If you want to learn how to pin on Pinterest for money, it’s important to pin on a consistent basis. Below are several tips for pinning and making money on Pinterest:

Create new pins for each blog post or product: I recommend pinning at least 5 unique pins for each blog post. This might seem like a lot, but it’s very manageable.

Create click-worthy and eye-catching pins: Use a free tool such as Canva.com to create your graphics. They offer free Pinterest graphics, which makes it easy to for beginners to create professional looking pins.

How to post pins on Pinterest

1. Go to your Pinterest account and make sure you’re logged in.
2. Click the plus icon “+” at the bottom-right of your screen.
3. Click Create > “Pin” or “Idea Pin”.
4. It will open a new screen. Here you can “drag and drop” or “click to upload images or a video”.
5. Add your Pin Title, Description, Alt Text, and Destination Link.

Save time by using pre-made Pin templates: If you’re brand new to pin design, struggle to make eye-catching pins, or simply don’t have much time available, using pre-made Pin templates is a total GAME CHANGER!

Use Tailwind to schedule your pins: To save time, I recommend using a scheduling tool such as Tailwind.

I prefer to pin manually, but I know many people who swear by using Tailwind. You can sign up for a 30-day trial with Tailwind here.

Use keywords that people are searching for in your Pinterest descriptions: Pinterest is like a search engine, so it’s important to use keywords that people are ACTUALLY searching for in your pin descriptions.

To do this, start typing into the Pinterest search bar to find keywords related to your niche and target audience.

For example, if you type in “How to bake”, Pinterest will show you what people are currently searching for on the platform. This can also help you find relevant keywords.

Use Pinterest trends to find popular content: Open Pinterest Trends and select which country you want to see data from.

This can help you see what’s currently trending on Pinterest, which can help you create ideas for pins or your blog if it’s relevant to your niche.

Search for popular pins on Pinterest: To get inspiration, search for ideas on Pinterest to see which pins capture your attention. You can take elements from these pins to help you create graphics on Canva. Just make sure that you don’t copy anyone’s style. That’s a big no-no!

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So now that you have your own website and your Pinterest account set up to drive traffic to your blog, let’s get to the nitty-gritty of how to actually make money.

Here are six ways that you can make extra money or even earn a full-time living from Pinterest!

Read Next: How to make money on Amazon FBA

2. How to make money on Pinterest with Google Adsense

Since Pinterest is a great way to drive traffic to your blog, you can make money with display advertising.

Display advertising is a popular way to earn an income from blogging. It works well when your website receives a lot of traffic. You can expect to make around $7-10+ per 1,000 page views.

This means if your blog receives 100,000 monthly page views, you can earn $700-$1,000+ per month from display advertising. How can an extra $1,000 each month help you?

Keep in mind that rates will vary based on how many ads you have on your website and which advertising company you work with. For new bloggers, a popular choice is Google Adsense.

Once your blog reaches 100,000 monthly page views (which is possible when using Pinterest effectively), I recommend going with AdThrive or Mediavine. This is the display advertising company I use for my website.

Below is a screenshot that shows how much money I made from display advertising in one month from my blog.

3. Make money on Pinterest with affiliate marketing

There are a couple of ways you can make money from Pinterest affiliate marketing:

Step 1: Create an awesome blog post that has at least one affiliate link in it. Then pin an eye-catching graphic to your Pinterest boards that leads to your affiliate blog post.

Example: You can pin a blog post about how to save money on travel which includes affiliate links in the post.

Below are some of the most popular affiliate networks you can use. Once you join, you can apply to individual affiliate programs through the network.

• ShareASale
• Impact Radius
• CJ Affiliate (Commission Junction)
• Rakuten Advertising

PRO TIP: I like using Canva.com to create all my pins. It’s free to use and they even have a Pinterest template to help you get started.

Step 2: Create an eye-catching graphic that leads directly to your affiliate link. This means instead of entering your blog post in the pin’s URL, you’ll enter your affiliate or referral link.

Keep in mind that you must ALWAYS disclose your affiliate link in the pin’s description. You can do this by saying “affiliate” or “affiliate link” in the Pin description.

Also, Pinterest discourages the use of URL shortners or tools that disguise the URL when sharing affiliate links.

Example: You can pin an affiliate link that takes visitors directly to an eBook or product’s sales page.

From my personal experience, I’ve had the BEST results from pins that lead to my blog posts (instead of directly to my referral links).

However, I know someone people who have had a lot of success by pinning direct affiliate links. I recommend experimenting with both options to see which one works best for you.

Below is a screenshot of how much money I made from one affiliate sale. I made this money while I was sleeping. Affiliate marketing can almost be like passive income.

To learn more about how to make money from affiliates, I recommend signing up for THIS e-course.

Michelle, the course creator makes $100,000 per month from her blog, so I knew that I would be learning from the best.

She even made more than $300,000 from ONE blog post. She shares her exact strategies so YOU can do it too.

Thanks to the teachings in her course, I have been able to make over $10,000 per month from my small blog.

Check out this free 36-page book from my friend Michelle, the mastermind behind Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing. This ebook will teach you all about how affiliate marketing works, as well as give you 26 affiliate marketing tips so that you can get started.

Read Next: Best affiliate maketing programs for new bloggers

4. Make money as a Pinterest Virtual Assistant

If you don’t have a blog or website, you can still make money on Pinterest. One of the best ways to do this is to become a Pinterest virtual assistant (or Pinterest VA for short).

You don’t have to be an expert to make money as a virtual assistant. With over a million blogs and online businesses, it’s no surprise that Pinterest virtual assistants are in high demand. This can be a great way to earn money from home.

What does a Pinterest Virtual Assistant do?

As a Pinterest Virtual Assistant, you can help build a client’s reach on Pinterest and maintain their presence on the social media platform.

This means you’ll create pins to share on your client’s Pinterest account to help drive traffic to their website or sales page.

How much money can you make as a Pinterest VA?

According Kristin, the mastermind behind Become a Pinterest VA, an absolute beginner can earn around $25-$35 per hour.

Some Pinterest VAs can earn up to $100 per hour. The amount of money you make will depend on your experience, skills, education, and so on.

How to get started:

If you think that becoming a Pinterest virtual assistant sounds like a good fit for you, I recommend signing up for Kristin’s free workshop.

Her workshop is completely free to join and it’ll provide you with detailed information on how to elevate your skills to become a successful Pinterest VA.

Read Next: How to become a Pinterest VA today

5. Make money by driving traffic to your ecommerce site

Pinterest is a smart way to make money by selling your own products or services. You can create a pin that links to your “Hire Me” page on your website or links to the sales page for your product.

You can sell:

• Digital products (eBooks, eCourses, printables)
• Physical products (clothing, home décor, books)
• Services (consulting, online coaching, virtual assistant). 

I have pins that lead directly to digital products on my Shopify store. You can get a free 14-day trial of Shopify here.

You can even sell other people’s products on Pinterest by creating a pin that links to your affiliate link.

6. Make money as Pinterest consultant

If you’re good at using Pinterest, you can make money by offering consulting services to other people or companies. You can even earn a full-time living through Pinterest consulting.

These services include providing an in-depth review of your client’s Pinterest profile, website, and analytics. You’ll then put together a list of suggested recommendations to help your client achieve their goal.

Pinterest consulting is becoming more popular and can be a great way to monetize your social media skills.

Having your own self-hosted website and Pinterest account is essential to helping others to find out about your services and see your work in action.

You can share testimonials on your website from previous clients and showcase your knowledge too. Having your own website also helps to legitimize your consulting services because it looks more professional.

As you can see, there are many ways you can make money or even earn a full-time living on Pinterest.

There has never been a better time to get started in turning your Pinterest profile into a money-making machine! What are you waiting for?

7. Make money by selling Pinterest templates

Bloggers and online business owners rely on using Pinterest to drive traffic to the website and landing pages.

To save time, many are looking for pre-made Pinterest templates they can use to make quick pins.

You can use a free site like Canva to create Pinterest templates and sell them to potential clients. You can sell these templates through your blog, Shopify store, or on Etsy.

My friend Kristin sells her own templates. Check out some of her designs below.

8. Make money on Pinterest by parterning with brands

You don’t need to create your own product or even promote an affiliate link to make money on Pinterest. Instead, you can partner with a brand and make money by giving them access to your audience.

First, you’ll need to get an idea of who your audience is and how you can help them. Pay attention to your follower’s demographic, engagment, how many shares your posts receive, and the view count.

Once you have this information, you can start reaching out to brands who might be interested in your audience with potential collaboration ideas.

Using the paid partnership tool on Pinterest, you can tag brand partners in your Idea Pins. To do this, make an Idea Pin in the app, then add the paid partnership label and tag your partner brand.

9. Create Idea Pins and make them shoppable

What are Idea Pins? Idea Pins are similiar to Stories on Instagram and Snapchat. They provide a full-screen still photo or video that allows you to share content with your audience.

What’s makes them different than other “story like” social media stories is that they don’t disappear within 24 hours. Pinterest encourages comments and conversations on Idea Pins.

To make money with Idea Pins, you can tag products in your Idea Pin so people can easily shop your picks. You can tag any products you want to recommend to your audience.

You can also tag affilate links on your Idea Pins so you can earn a commission when people click through and shop.

10. Join the Pinterest Creator Fund

In 2021, Pinterest launched the Creator Fund to help underrepresented creators grow and monetize their content on the platform.

Fund creators tend to see more Idea Pin impressions and more monthly viewers compared to their previous performance.

This opens quarterly and you’ll have access to brand parternships, tools, and resources from the Pinterest team to help grow your reach.

11. Join the Pinterest Creator Rewards

Creator Rewards is a program for creators to earn money by creating unique and original Idea Pins.

This can be a great way to make money on Pinterest and some users have claimed to make $1,000 – $10,000+ per month. However, most people can expect to earn an extra few hundred dollars.

To be eligible for the Creator Rewards program, you’ll need to have a Pinterest Business Account and meet certain critera, such as being a legal resident in the USA, have at least 250 followers, have created at least 3 Idea Pins in the last 30 days, and have 150 saves of your published Pins in the last 30 days.

12. Use Pinterest Ads to reach new users and make more money

If you’re selling digital products, physical products, or have an affiliate blog post that receives a high conversion rate, you can use Pinterest Ads to get your offerings in front of more buyers.

To start running Pinterest Ads, you’ll need to have a Pinterest Business Account, then you can click on the Ads Manager to create a campaign and ad group.

13. Make money by creating sponsored content on Pinterest

This is when you work directly with a brand to create pins or Idea Pins to promote the company’s products / services.

For example, it can be something like, “10 things to do in Barcelona” or “How to give yourself a blowout at home with this hair tool”.

You can reach out to brands that you’d like to work with and pitch ideas for how you can work together on Pinterest.

Here you’ll collaborate with brands to create content specifically for Pinterest and negotiate a rate for promoting their products / services to your audience.

14. Teach people your Pinterest strategy

Once you get good at growing and making money from your Pinterest account, you can choose to teach others your Pinterest strategy.

For example, my friend Carly leveraged her Pinterest knowledge by creating a course that teaches others how to use Pinterest to drive traffic to their blog and make money online.

If you’re good at finding brands to work with on sponsored content, creating successful Pinterest Ads, or making original Idea Pins, you can share the knowledge with others.

Some ways you can make money from this is by creating a course, e-book, or offering coaching (either one-on-one or group sessions). Having a blog or online platform can help grow your reach and attract people who want to do the same.

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Make money on Pinterest for beginners FAQs

How many followers do you need on Pinterest to make money?

The good news is that you don’t need a lot of followers on Pinterest to make money. Some people on Pinterest have a million followers or more, but you don’t need many followers to start making money.

If you share pins on Pinterest that generate a lot of clicks to your blog, site or online shop, this can help you make money.

How to make money on Pinterest without a blog

If you don’t have a blog, you can still make money on Pinterest with affiliate marketing. Check out the simple steps below to make money on Pinterest without a blog:

1. Sign up to be an affiliate for your favorite product or service.
2. Create click-worthy Pinterest graphics using a free tool like Canva.
3. Share your graphics on Pinterest and enter your unique affiliate link in the pin URL.

Other ways you can make money on Pinterest without a blog is to link to your online store or become a Pinterest Virtual Assistant.

What are some other online platforms to make money?

• WordPress – You can start a WordPress blog and make money through display ads, affiliate marketing, or sponsored posts.
• Amazon – Amazon’s FBA program allows you to resell products through the platform. Check out how Jessica makes over $5,000 a month from Amazon.
• Shopify – This is a one-stop shop to create your online store and sell products or through drop shipping.
• YouTube – If you enjoy making videos, YouTube can be a great platform to share your content online. You can make money from display ads on your videos, sharing affiliate links, or selling your own products.
• Surveys for money – The top-paying sites includes Swagbucks, Survey Junkie, Branded Surveys, My Points, and Inbox Dollars.
• Fiverr
• Shutterstock

Can you see who views your Pinterest?

No, you can’t see who views your Pinterest. Pinterest doesn’t give you the option to see who has viewed your profile. You can still use who engages with your Pins, such as leaving a comment, saving them, or repinning them to their own boards.