Driving Traffic with Pinterest with Ileane Smith

The guest for this edition of the Manly Pinterest Tips Show, Ileane Smith, came to blogging using a fairly circuitous route.

In 2009, Ileane, hoping to subscribe to her daughter’s fashion blog, somehow wound up starting her own. Working at a technical book publisher by day, she knew how to use the Internet for basic searches and the like, but didn’t really have a good idea how to use it to blog.

“Back then, there weren’t that many tutorials to really show you how to use the platform,” said Ileane. “Since I had this blog now, and I just felt so empowered, I felt like, ‘As I learn things, I will write them on my blog.’ That’s kind of how I found my niche.”

Five years later,Ileane has become a real authority on effective blogging, dispensing blogging knowledge from her Basic Blog Tips site.

Ileane’s expertise doesn’t stop at simply blogging though. In fact, her prolific presence across social media serves to drive traffic to her blog, including her popular YouTube, Google+, and, of course, Pinterest accounts.

She even hosts her own podcast, the Ms. Ileane Speaks Podcast, where Ileane also serves up her views on marketing, finances, graphic design, music, and networking, among other things.

Yep, she’s come a long way in just five years, going from occasional web surfer to blogging guru. Luckily for us, she has dropped breadcrumbs along the way – in the form of her blog – to help the rest of us find our way out of the forest.

Here is a list of questions we discussed:

1. How did you get started in social media and particularly blogging? (1:41)
2. Why should small business owners start a blog? (3:41)
3. What drew you to Pinterest? (4:46)
4. What are some other tools (besides the Tailwind app and Ahalogy) that you use specifically for Pinterest? (9:35)
5. Have you noticed the articles you pin on Pinterest pop up later? (14:29)
6. Do you recommend jumping into group boards when you first start Pinterest or should you sit back and figure them out? (18:38)
7. When you pin something to a group board, is it OK to also pin it to a board you have on the same subject? Should you space it out? (25:01)
8. How do you recommend bloggers use Pinterest as a social media platform? (28:43)
9. What advice can you give to a new blogger on how to maximize his or her time on Pinterest? (32:54)
10. What were some mistakes you made when you first started using Pinterest? (34:45)
11. What is a good site to explain posting blogs on Pinterest? (37:16)
12. What advice do you have for guys using Pinterest? (39:05)

Thanks For Watching And Listening!

I really appreciate you joining me for this week’s episode.  Have questions or comments?  Leave a message in the comment section below!

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If you’d like to learn more about a certain topic or have something you’d like me to talk about during the show, feel free to contact me.

Thanks to Ileane for being such a great guest.  See you for the next episode where we’ll be adding testosterone, one pin at a time!