Last week, I mentioned that if  you subscribe to Premeditated Leftovers through Google Friend Connect your subscription will end on March 28th. Google will no longer provide that subscription service to WordPress blogs. I know Google is hoping you will all move over to Google+ and I think they have some great features, but I also realize that not everybody is crazy about the transition. So I now have another option. Brent Riggs, of Linky Tools, has created Linky Follower.

Linky Follower looks like it is going to be a nice service. It is easy to sign up; you just need to provide your name and email. Once you have an account you can follow any blog with it, even blogs who do not yet offer Linky Follower on their sidebar. You can organize the blogs you follow and favorite blogs or posts. I have added a widget on my side bar if you would like to follow this blog with Linky Follower. 

You can also follow Premeditated Leftovers using:

RSS Reader – I use Google Reader to follow many blogs.

RSS Email – You receive an email each evening that contains all of the posts from that day. If I don’t publish a post that day, then you do not receive an email. Your email remains private and is not used for anything other than sending you an email of my posts.

Facebook – I share links to my posts, links to posts that I think my readers will enjoy, and share little tidbits of the insanity that is my life.

Premeditated Leftovers Google+ Page - If you have a Google account, you can easily see updates on my Google+ Page. The cool thing about Google+ (besides the fact that you can use bold, strikethrough, and italics AND you can  edit your status if you misspell a word) is that I can follow back individual accounts from my Google page, so I can easily 1+ and share any of your public posts.

Last week I wrote an Intro to Pinterest explaining how to use it and some of its benefits. Today I wanted to address some specific ways that bloggers can use Pinterest.

Pinterest is my number 3 source of traffic! I know that right now two questions are running through your mind: ”How much traffic do you have?” and “Pinterest???”  So I will answer your questions before I go on. I receive over 100,000 page views a month (I’m not a huge blogger, but I do have a few more readers than just my sister and close friends) and yes, Pinterest really is my number 3 source of traffic.

I find that a lot of people are surprised that Pinterest has the ability to generate so much traffic. I think that is because Pinterest has been overlooked by the “probloggers”. The “probloggers” write about blogging and social-media, and while I find their information interesting and helpful, it is usually visually uninteresting. Wordy posts (like this one) do not do well on Pinterest and if your posts do not benefit from a certain social media platform it is hard to see what a wonderful resource it is.

I discovered Pinterest through people pinning my posts and sending traffic to me. I had enough traffic from Pinterest that it caught my eye and I decided to explore the site. I discovered that Pinterest is a great format for people who create things, especially visually interesting things like recipes, DIY projects, and art. It is also good for travel blogs, fashion blogs, home decorating and landscape posts  - anything visual.

How to Use Pinterest to Grow Your Blog

Make sure you have filled out your profile and linked to your blog, Twitter and/or Facebook accounts. I cannot tell you how many bloggers forget to add a link to their blog. If another pinner likes your pins and clicks on your profile to see if you have a blog and you don’t have a link…they will just move on…but you will have lost a potential follower. Always include a link to your blog on your social media profiles!

Create boards that are an extension of the topics you blog about. If you blog about food, don’t have one board titled “Food I Like”. Break your food boards down by topic: Appetizers, Soups and Stews, Desserts, Fast Dinner Recipes, etc. Then pin items that you discover that fit those categories.

Arrange your boards so that the board topics that most people connect your blog are at the top of your wall and your personal boards are at the bottom. You can also rearange your boards to place seasonably appropriate boards at the top of your wall. Once people are following you they will find your pins in their stream, but they will check your wall before they decide to follow you and they may occasionally visit it if you are one of their favorite pinners.

Share your reader’s posts on Pinterest. I often pin posts that I discover on the blog hops that I co-host. Pinterest allows you to share your pins on Facebook and Twitter, so you can share over several different medias at once if you like. Adding the “pin it” button to your tool bar makes this process fast and easy.

Add the “Follow Me on Pinterest” button to your sidebar. You will find the directions for adding the button on the Pinterest Goodies page.

Generating Traffic From New Posts

Remember, not every post is pin-worthy. This post is not pin-worthy; it is visually uninteresting and doesn’t have wide spread appeal. Other types of posts that should not be pinned: sales, giveaways, coupons and most reviews.

You need at least one good picture of the final product for a pin-worthy post. Tutorials with multiple pictures on just about any topic do well. Posts pinned to Pinterest do not need to be as jazzy as those that are stumbled. Pinners have a longer attention spam than stumblers and are looking for some meaty content as well as a good picture.

You can add a “pin it” button to your post. WordPress users can use the “Post It On Pinterest” plugin. The plugin allows you to choose the picture and text to go with your pin. Unfortunately, there is not a plugin that I know of for bloggers, but you can create a custom pin for a particular post. You will find a form to create your custom pin in Pinterest Goodies. Even with the form, it is a bit time consuming, so I recommend adding this only to posts that you think people will want to pin – be objective!

Generating Traffic from Old Posts

People are finding my old posts by doing a Google search, then pinning the post, which creates traffic for my old posts. Another way to generate traffic for your old posts is to pin your old posts as they become relevant again. (As when stumbling your own posts, follow the rule of thumb of pinning at least 10 posts from other people for every one of your posts you pin). When you notice that fellow pinners are pinning posts on a certain subject review your old posts and see if you have any relevant posts to add.

Once you find that one of your old posts is being pinned, go over it and check to make sure all of the links work.

Check to see if there is a natural way to monetize the post with something that is relevant. If there isn’t, it is better to leave the post unmonetized.

Add related links. I like to do this by hand rather than allow a plugin to do it because I can pick the posts that I feel are mostly like to interest those that land on that page. For instance, most of people who pin my post Ideas for Reusing Kleenex Boxes pin the picture of the marshallow catapult, so I know they are looking for ideas for children. A plugin would probably link “reusing” or “repurposing” posts, but I hand picked ”frugal fun ideas for kids” posts when creating “related posts” to appeal to the people who were arriving at Ideas for Reusing Kleenex Boxes and generate more traffic for my blog.

Final Tips for Pinterest

When people create a board, they assign a category to it, so when they pin your post to a board it is seen not only by their followers, but anybody who has expressed an interest in following that category. Your post is in their stream for a day or two, unless it continues to be pinned and goes viral, but it remains on their board unless they remove it. Even if the pinner has few followers, their pin is seen longer than it would be on faster moving social medias.

Pinterest has allowed me to get to know my readers and my readers to get to know me at a different level. Because I have personal boards in addition to my blog-centric boards, my readers see a different side of me and I see who is planning a wedding, who has an Angry Birds addiction, who is redecorating a room, who is homeschooling, and who has rambunctious children and pin tips for keeeping them entertained.

I find it easier to limit my time on Pinterest than other social medias because I can quickly look through pictures and push repin if I see something I like. I don’t have to think of a witty response, I just hit repin, pick a board, and I am done. The same pins move up and down the boards throughout the day, so you don’t have to spend a lot of time on Pinterest to see what is being pinned. I spend 5 -10 minutes 2 -3 times a day. If you find it addictive, set a timer.

I am not a social media guru (I was really late to the game on Facebook and I only use LinkedIn to send love notes to my husband) so keep that in mind as you apply this post. However, I do think that it is worth your time to explore Pinterest if you create visually interesting posts.

To those of you receiving this by email: I am sorry! Occasionally on Saturdays, I write incredibly long and boring posts about blogging (and social media) for other food bloggers. If you subscribe for the recipes, then let me recommend my Traditional Toffee post. It has been stumbledUpon over 11,ooo times in 36 hours, so it is probably a lot more interesting than the following post is going to be.

Last Tuesday, I shared some of my observations stumbling posts from the Hearth and Soul Hop. It was meant to help food bloggers tweak their posts so that their posts would do better on StumbleUpon. You don’t need to be a member of StumbleUpon to have your posts stumbled, so my tips applied to all food bloggers whether or not they were Stumblers. However,  I had many people tell me that they were not very familiar with StumbleUpon, so I thought I would give a brief overview so you can get more out of it if you do join.

StumbleUpon, is a search engine that is driven by what you are interested in, what stumblers discover, and what you and other stumblers make popular through liking it.

Go to StumbleUpon and sign up. Pick a username that will be easily recognizable to your friends. I went with AleasLeftovers because that is the same username that I have for Twitter. As a side-note, I also used this as my Pinterest username. Being consistent with the names you use makes it easier for people to immediately recognize you on different social media platforms.

Set Up Your Profile and Establish Your Interests

You should be led through most of the set up, but just in case here are a few things you want to do:

Click on Setting in the top right corner.

1. Customize your profile. Include your blog, if you have one, in your about me section. Do this today if you haven’t already!

2. Add your profile picture. If you wish to remain anonymous, add an image from your blog, like your blog button.

3. Manage interests. Click on the topics you are interested in stumbling.

Find People to Follow

Click on Stumblers on the top center bar.

1. Click on Find Friends on the top right. You will be able to access friends from Twitter and Facebook and choose which you want to follow. I only use Twitter to find friends, because most of my FB friends are not on any other social platform and those that are, also have a twitter account.

I recommend allowing shares when you follow people. You can always remove the privelage if somebody is abusing the share function, but most people follow the common practice of “sharing” no more than one post a day. Sharing is different than stumbling. Sharing sends a private message to your followers encouraging them to view/like/share a post. Liking and Stumbling a post add it to the public collection of stumbled posts without sending a private message to anyone.

2. You can also search for people by name or invite your friends to join you on StumbleUpon. I am going to include a Linky at the bottom of this post where you can enter your StumbleUpon username, so we can all find more foodie friends to follow, because the more people you follow who have common interests, the richer your experience will be.

Many bloggers try to collect social media followers like some women collect china, but Pinterest and StumbleUpon are two platforms that are more fun by following interesting people. Additionally any stumble can make it into the rotation of anyone who has listed that tag as an interest, so you don’t need a lot of followers to have a post go viral – you just need to stumble good posts!

Start Stumbling

Add Stumble to your toolbar. Click on the help button on the top right corner to learn how to add Stumble to your browser.

Click on Home (left side). Then Click on Stumble Your Interests.

Or…

Click on Discover (to the right of the Stumblers button):

You will land on Recent Activity. This is the recent activity of the people you follow. You can scroll down or hit stumble to randomly view the recent activity.

Once you land on a post, you can do one of several things. You can give it a thumbs up which will add a link to that post on you Stumble page or you can click on the stumble button to pass on to the next recommended post. Some stumble bars also allow you to give a post a thumbs down. I reserve this for truly horrible posts or spammy posts. If the post is fine, but just not my style/taste/interest I just click the stumble button and pass on to the next post.

Stumbling a Post

If you find a post you would like to stumble, you click the thumbs up button on your tool bar. If you don’t have a tool bar, you can copy the URL and then click the Favorites button on your StumbleUpon page. You will see a button that says “Add a Site”, click that and then paste in the URL and write a review.

Please only stumble really good posts! Not every post is stumble worthy. You help every post you stumble by stumbling good posts. On some tool bars, a stumbler can click the “more” button beside the thumbs up button. The “more” button allows them to see more posts from that user, from that topic, or from that domain. So if they like that post and then request to see more from that user, they will start stumbling all of your stumbled posts.

Reviewing Posts

If you are the first person to stumble a post, StumbleUpon will request that you write a review. First you need to verify that it is safe for a work environment. Then add “tags”. If it is a food post, you will click food/cooking. You can also add other appropriate tags. Then write a quick one sentence review or even just a few words about what you like about the post.

Last Words

A Conversation with my Daughter (there is kind of a point):

Me (looking up from my blog stats): People like desserts

Patricia (eating a Mocha Fudge Doughnut): Mm hmm

Me: I mean really, they really like desserts!

Patricia (still eating Mocha Fudge Doughnut): Ymmm, Mmmknow

Me: Seriously, they really like desserts!

Patricia (swallows bite of doughnut): Yeah, I know! Maybe you should keep that in mind next summer when you are forcing your squash recipes on everybody…or at least stumble some dessert recipes to keep your numbers up.

If you are still reading, you are either a blogaholic or related to me.

Share Your StumbleUpon User Name

Once you have joined StumbleUpon, share a link to your StumbleUpon page in the below linky so that we can follow your stumbles.

1. Where it says Link or blog title, write your username.
2. Where it says URL, include the URL of your StumbleUpon Page. It will look like this: http://www.stumbleupon.com/stumbler/YourUserName/
3. Then add your email and name (which will be kept private, but will be used to weed out the spammers)