How to Make Money on Pinterest [2023 Beginners Guide]

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Are you curious about how to make money on Pinterest?

Pinterest is a sleeping giant. A quietly kept secret that’s a super powerful way to make money online, believe it or not. This year alone, I’ll make around $40,000 just from Pinterest and I’m only tapping into one way of making money. If your goal is to learn how to make money on Pinterest, you’re in the right place. This ultimate guide will show you everything you need to know:

• How to make money on Pinterest
• Requirements needed to make money
• Who can make money with Pinterest
• Getting started
• A step-by-step quick guide
• And, a lot more!

Can you make money on Pinterest?

Yes, you can use Pinterest to make money! And, the best part is, there are multiple ways to make money. We’re going to uncover all those different ways to monetize Pinterest so you can get started making money with the social visual search platform.

Is making money on Pinterest worth it?

Yes, I think so. If you’re looking for a way to make money that is:

• Beginner-friendly
• Able to make you money online
• Flexible
• Solopreneur friendly
• An opportunity to work comfortable from home, when you want and where you want

Then, you’ll want to keep reading!

There are so many different ways to monetize Pinterest. Whether you’re looking for a little extra cash to lead a more fruitful lifestyle or you want to make a lot of money to increase your ability to save, pay off debt or put towards your passions or anything else, there are plenty of avenues to pursue here.

How much money can you make on Pinterest

So, how much money can you make on Pinterest, anyway?

You can earn a full-time income! Don’t believe me? Here’s a screenshot from this creator who shared how much she’s made from Pinterest after just a few months…

This is not mine, it’s from a creator who shared her success with Pinterest Creator Rewards within a few months of joining. She’s earned over $100,000 this year from this program alone! And, this is just one of the many ways to make money with Pinterest.

How to Make Money on Pinterest [Ultimate Guide]

Here are the many ways you can make money from Pinterest:

1. Pinterest Creator Rewards

This is one of Pinterest’s newest ways to pay creators and it’s called the Pinterest Creator Rewards program. The program pays Pinterest creators to create content for the platform.

In short, you get paid to make Pinterest pins! It’s just that easy.

Here’s how to get started:

First, you should be in the Pinterest Creator Rewards program. It is not open to all Pinterest creators. Here are the requirements…

• Use the Pinterest app on your mobile phone
• Be 18 years or over
• Be a legal resident of, and located in, the United States or the District of Columbia
• Have at least 250 followers
• Have created at least 3 Idea Pins in the last 30 days
• Have 150 saves of your published Pins in the last 30 days
• Create original content

These are the requirements as of November 2022. These requirements have changed and they can continue to change in the future so feel free to check back on this page to see the most recent version of requirements for Pinterest Creator Rewards.

What to know about Pinterest Creator Rewards

This is an incredibly easy way to make money with Pinterest. If you know how to create Pinterest pins, then you’ll be able to succeed with this once you’re in the program. Right now, they are focusing on creating an idea pin. The idea pin is one of Pinterest’s newest features and that’s what Pinterest Creator Rewards is revolving around but, this can change at any time.

To learn about what an idea pin is, read this definition on Pinterest.

To see if you’re eligible, visit the Pinterest app on mobile and click your Creator Hub button in your dashboard (if you have one). If eligible to apply, you’ll see an option to apply via the Earn tab.

2. Blogging

The second way how to make money on Pinterest is one of my favorites and that’s through blogging.

This is an indirect way to make money using Pinterest. Unlike the first way, Pinterest does not pay you directly. The idea of combining Pinterest with blogging is to use the visual search engine social platform to drive traffic to your monetized blog. Visitors land on your blog posts and those views can make you money through:

• Ads on your blog
• Affiliate marketing
• Sales of products and services you offer

I first started blogging almost ten years ago and it has afforded me so many awesome opportunities.

• I was able to make over six figures blogging
• Share what I know with my audience
• Connect with peers and readers
• Build an online reputation
• Continue being an online entrepreneur

What is blogging?

A blog is like an online journal. You’ll have a website that you can write stuff on. Some topics bloggers will blog about include:

• Finance and money
• Travel
• Parenting
• Education
• Entertainment
• Career

You can literally write about anything you want and it can be lucrative!

Starting a blog is an easy way to make money on the side and it comes with a ton of perks (some of which I mentioned above):

• You get to connect with an audience
• Write about what you want
• Vents, so blogging is therapeutic and,
• Make money

If this sounds interesting to you then, click here to check out one of my favorite affordable monthly hosting company for blogging at under $4 per month!

3. Pinterest Affiliate marketing

The third way how to make money on Pinterest is with affiliate marketing.

It’s called Pinterest affiliate marketing.

With affiliate marketing, you create content around an affiliate program and when people click your affiliate link and buy, you earn a commission.

For example, if you are an Amazon affiliate and promote a treadmill being sold on Amazon and people buy the treadmill using your Amazon affiliate link, you’ll make money.

It works the same way with Pinterest affiliate marketing but, the content you create will be Pinterest pins!

How does Pinterest affiliate marketing work?

With Pinterest affiliate marketing, you are creating pin graphics which leads directly to affiliate products. So that means you don’t have to have a website or a blog in order for this to work and make money.

For example, if create pins about the Amazon treadmill and Pinterest users click the pin and buy the treadmill, you will make money.

When you create Pinterest pins, you can link the pin image to a URL:

 

The above example is one way to do Pinterest affiliate marketing (direct link your affiliate link in your pin image). The other ways are:

• Linking your pin image to a lead magnet
• Linking your pin image to your blog post that is monetized with affiliate links

Pinterest lead magnet

A lead magnet is an enticing resource that you offer for free in exchange for an email address.

For example, you might offer a free online course that you’ve created in exchange for that person’s email address. Other examples of lead magnets are:

• An ebook
• A guide
• A PDF
• Online template
• Free one-on-one session with you

The idea is to entice your viewer to give them your email address. You’ll collect that email address onto your email list and then you can email them affiliate offers in the future. This is email marketing. For more on email marketing and how it works, read this.

Pinterest blog affiliate marketing

With Pinterest blog affiliate marketing, you will link your Pinterest pin image to your blog post that will be monetized with affiliate links.

For example, you could create a blog post about the best toasters on Amazon. You’ll make a Pinterest pin linking that blog post and then when Pinterest users click your pin and land on your blog post, if they buy using your affiliate link, you make money.

How to find affiliate programs?

Before you start searching for affiliate programs, I recommend that you pick a niche.

Your niche is going to be your category that you target and it could be something like travel, food, health and wellness, money or other topics.

Once you pick your niche then you can start to seek out and apply to affiliate programs. I would recommend finding affiliate programs to join based on products that you use and love.

You can also join an affiliate network and pick the products that you think you’ll be the best fit for a Pinterest users based on their popularity and if it seems like a product that you may personally use yourself and enjoy.

Here are some affiliate networks you can start your search using:

• Shareasale
• Flex Offers
• Amazon Associates

You have way better results if you stand behind the product that you’re promoting, trust me.

4. Pinterest influencer

You can make money with brand deals as a Pinterest influencer.

Pinterest’s paid partnership tool makes it easy to collaborate with brands on the platform.

With a brand deal on Pinterest, you and a brand will come together and they pay you to create and publish Pinterest pins on your profile.

Why?

Your influence is valuable. For example, a home decor Pinterest influencer with 30,000 followers might be valuable to a home decor brand who is trying to get customers on Pinterest.

It would make sense for the two to partner in a brand deal which would be rewarding to both sides.

Brand deals are one of the most lucrative ways that influencers make money. This is great if you have a small, medium, or large social following on Pinterest. Brand deals can work with nanoinfluencers and microinfluencers with as little as 1,000 to 5,000+ followers.

5. Pinterest Creator Fund

The Pinterest Creator Fund is a program available to selected creators in underrepresented communities.

According to Pinterest,

The Fund is open to people who identify with underrepresented creator communities: people of color, people with disabilities and members of the LGBTQ+ community.

The Pinterest Creator Fund is made available in various rounds throughout the year. Right now, there is a round open to food creators (November 7, 2022 through November 16, 2022) who may apply. You can read more about it here.

If you find this when the Creator Fund is closed, check back often as it reopens throughout the year.

Pinterest says:

The 5-week program will include virtual sessions sharing exclusive looks at editorial and personalized Pinterest Predicts trends, ways to be featured on Pinterest, how to use best practices & ads to help boost your content and the opportunity to build community with other Creators.

If selected, you’ll get access to experts, resources, and a grant.

6. Become a Pinterest Social Media Manager

You may have heard the term Pinterest social media manager or Pinterest virtual assistant (VA). You can use the two terms interchangeably, in many cases.

Social media managers work with clients to help them reach their goals, which might be:

• Growing their audience on one or more social platforms
• Making sales on social platforms
• Creating more brand awareness

This is what your role will be here, but for Pinterest.

This can be a really fun job, especially if you enjoy social media. You get paid to “play” on social media.

This is a client-based role where your client pays you to perform your Pinterest services. You can find clients through word-of-mouth referrals, freelance networks like Upwork, gig marketplaces like Fiverr, social media sites and other ways.

If you want to become a Pinterest social media manager/VA, I recommend you join groups/communities online where you can learn more about it. Some examples are Facebook groups, subreddit communities, social media apps like Tik Tok and Instagram.

7. Selling your products

Whether you sell your handmade goods on Etsy or you dropship on Shopify, there’s a space on Pinterest for entrepreneurs who sell online.

You can explore Pinterest marketing! This is where you use Pinterest to market/promote your products.

Pinterest is a visual-based social network/search engine so sharing pictures of your products is a great way to attract attention and get leads. You can post to the platform to attract your audience organically or explore paid Pinterest ads by creating a promoted pin.

If this is you, the Verified Merchant Program is a great place to start.

Pinterest says:

The Verified Merchant Program helps shoppers discover and buy from vetted brands. It’s free to join and makes your brand stand out. Plus, merchants in the program see a 17% higher conversion rate, compared to merchants who don’t participate.

You get a Verified badge, inclusion into shopping experiences, a Shop tab, access to exclusive features, and more.

My personal experience with Pinterest

When I very first started using Pinterest, I was totally in love. I was working at my corporate job and I happened to be in the nursing mothers room when I heard the other moms and they were talking about Pinterest.

It sounded really interesting as they were gabbing about snicker salad and DIY home decor hacks and other fun stuff so I instantly downloaded the app on my phone. I was really astounded with all the content and information on the Pinterest app.

It was self-explanatory, creating boards and pinning pins and saving my favorite content to these boards on my account so I can come back to them later. Since then I have really been a Pinterest fanatic.

It’s like Google but with pictures and if you’re a visual like me this is definitely going to speak to you.

I learned about so many different things from how to budget on a cash envelope system to how to make the very best vegan ginger snap cookies, which are way better than the dairy-laden ones. I’ve also learned fun, creative and cheap life hacks to help me save time and save money plus a bunch of other stuff.

I really could go on and on.

Pinterest is much more than a social network. It’s a visual search engine. So people go to Pinterest in order to search for things. They have problems and they’re seeking solutions.

Like a delicious meal to cook for dinner that’s gluten-free or birthday party inspiration for a nine year old or ways to make money as a virtual assistant, plus a lot more. Making money on a Pinterest is definitely possible for you and I’m going to share exactly how to do it.

Step-by-step Guide How to Make Money on Pinterest

Now, that you’ve learned the many ways to use Pinterest o make money, here is how you start.

Step 1: Pick a monetization path

This is your starting point, where you choose how you want to make money with Pinterest. You may look at all the options and decide to do Pinterest Creator Rewards. Once you choose your path, you can get started putting things in place to get there. For example, with Pinterest Creator Rewards, you need at least 250 followers. So, if you don’t meet this requirement, you can take steps to reach that goal in the future.

Step 2: Take action

Start working toward your goal. That could be making sure you fulfill the minimum requirements for that monetization path like the Pinterest Creator Rewards example I shared above or starting your plan to make money.

Step 3: Measure your results (optional)

This is optional but, it’s great for accountability. Who doesn’t like checking in on their progress and seeing how much they are making?

Next steps for how to make money on Pinterest

To recap, now that we’ve gone over all three ways how you can start making money on a Pinterest, here’s what to do next.

First, identify the route that you want to take for making money on Pinterest.

Craft your plan and then execute it.

To take your Pinterest efforts up a notch, consider this resource which I have personally gone through, helping me go from 80,000 to 2.5 million monthly visitors in just a few months!

I would love to hear how you’re doing so feel free to comment below to share which route you’re taking and if you have any questions.

For more ways to make money online

Making money with Pinterest is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of ways to make money online. This is perfect for people who use or are interested in using Pinterest to make money. It’s good for creatives who feel confident in making Pinterest pins and people who are go-getters and ready to put their plan into place so they can reach their goals.

If you’re looking for ways to create additional income streams, here are some ideas:

Paid online surveys

This isn’t a lot of money but, it’s incredibly easy to do. Anybody can do it and you can literally start the moment you click one of these links. These are all free programs to join. You make money by sharing your personal opinion.

• Click here to check out Pinecone Research (one of the highest paying)
• Click here to join Survey Savvy (I’ve made money the most consistently here)
• Click here to head over to My Points (easy offers and quick to complete)

Website flipping

You create websites, sell them and make money. I teach website flipping for starter sites which means they can be brand new, small sites that sell for up to a few hundred dollars each. Search Millennial Nextdoor for posts about website flipping and when you’re ready to start, the ebook will guide you on how to kick things off.

I’ve had students make $15K+ from website flipping!

Final Thoughts on How to make money on Pinterest

The truth is, yes you can make money on Pinterest.

You just read 7 different ways you can!

I don’t blame you if you’re a bit skeptical but, I can honestly tell you that making money from Pinterest is real! I’m proof!

Here’s some of my content I’ve published online that shares more about how I make money on Pinterest.

Honestly a lot of stuff on the Internet has plenty a room for skepticism and it’s always good to be cautious.

I know I have been when I started researching how to make money online.

Which path are you pursuing to make money on Pinterest?