How to use Pinterest to collaborate with your clients

Although Pinterest is a really popular social media platform, many people still think it’s just a load of women planning their ideal wedding and designing an imaginary dream home. Although it kind of is (guilty!) it’s also a whole lot more and can even be a great way to share client work and collaborate with your clients.

Because social media is my own VA niche, I not only research and analyse online profiles for marketers and social media consultants, I also use Pinterest to liaise and collaborate with them. Here’s a couple of examples:

Ways to collaborate with clients on Pinterest

Although you can’t change an existing board when you create a new one you have the option to make it private. This, and the option to invite other users equals a brilliant way to collaborate with clients on new projects.

Example 1

A social media strategist client once asked me to find examples of how her new client’s competitors were using a variety of different social media platforms and then send them to her as screenshots.

But instead of emailing them over in the usual zipped folder, I pinned the images to a private board instead. I wrote notes in the space below each pin to explain what the image was about and why I’d pinned it, then I added her as an administrator so she could access and edit the board.

My client was delighted.

Private boards were new and she’d been so busy she hadn’t even known they existed yet. She was happy because she could add images to the board herself then show her client in a face-to-face meeting or via her iPad – it also streamlined our communication and served as a perfect example of one of the many ways her client could use Pinterest in their own business.

Plus it made me look the shizzle!

Example 2

I have another client who runs bars for big events and we use Pinterest boards to decide on new drink products as well as play around with potential designs for new bar areas and other décor ideas.

He’s creative but not very organised – so now he can delete his billion bookmarks and I can actually see what he has in mind for a new event without trying to interpret his ideas through Jedi mind reading.

Personal or business?

I have two accounts: a personal one under a pseudonym where I pin pictures of shoes, recipes and Star Trek merchandise, and a business account where I have both private and public boards containing articles I want to refer back to and stuff I think you’ll also find interesting.

And I don’t think it’s professional to mix the two.

It really does depend on your own particular brand so use your gut feeling on this one, but give some thought as to what impression your Pinterest account would give a potential client.

While my ‘sexy as f**k’ board has some mouth-watering images of Ryan Gosling with his shirt off, I’d go for being taken seriously every time. Well alright, maybe not every time… damn you Eva Mendez!

Mix your personal and professional interests if you really want to, but keep the personal stuff hidden on private boards if you’ve linked to your Pinterest account from your website or if you want people to take you seriously and actually hire you.

PS – Pinterest can be a massive time-sucker so try not to spend all day on there!

Is it time to set up your VA business? Researching is great but there comes a time when you need to stop reading and start doing. With lifetime access and an incredible trainee-only support group, my DIY course covers everything you need to become a kick-ass Virtual Assistant. FIND OUT MORE