Pinterest may not be as well-known as Facebook, but with a growth rate of 2,183% in just one year, it’s uncommon to not be aware of this rapidly growing “virtual pinboard”. You also may be surprised to learn that it beats Facebook in driving more sales. But is Pinterest right for your business?

If your business produces a visually appealing product or offers a service with the end result creating aesthetics, then Pinterest is perfect for you. Users are more likely to notice, re-pin and be directed back to the pin’s source if it is a pin catches their eye.

There are 3 things you need to do if you are ready to jump into the world of Pinterest.

Creating a Pinterest account is simple start and easy to maintain. After signing up, you choose who you want to follow. Follow your friends, other businesses, and just people who post things that interest you. There are many articles, being written daily, that tell you the most influential people or businesses to follow. While setting up your Pinterest account, you will also create boards to keep your pins organized. Make the title of the boards short and clear. It is important for not all the pins on your board to be all about business. Include things that you are personally interested in too.

Pinterest offers something called a “pin it button” that you install in your browser so you can upload your own pins. What I would suggest you do is to pin photos from your website so that your website is the original source and people will be taken back to it once they click on the pin.

There are two Pinterest buttons that will also highly benefit your business on Pinterest. The first button to add to your website is the “Follow button”. People who visit your website and click can easily taken to you Pinterest page and will start to follow you. The other button to add to your website is “Pin It”. You add this button next to photos on your website so that others can pin it to one of their boards which in turn lets their followers see the pin.

Overall, the main advantage of putting your business on Pinterest is to make people aware of your product or service by catching their attention with a picture and drawing them back to your website for more info.

Caitlin Brown is the Social Media Account Manager at Forward Progress. She is a 2010 graduate with a degree in Media Studies and a pinning fanatic. Follow her at www.Pinterest.com/cebrown10. For more information on how we can help grow your business by using social media, call us today.