
In today’s episode, Brock Johnson interviews Jenna Kutcher to discuss how to make money on Pinterest in just one hour per week. Jenna shares her expert insights on how to grow on Pinterest and how to leverage the platform for income generation with...
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Brock Johnson
If adding another social media to your plate sounds like the straw that will break the camel's back, you're not alone. You have to create new content for this social media, build your following from scratch, and learn the best practices and strategies. It sounds extremely overwhelming, and this is the exact mindset that I have been having in regards to Pinterest over the last few years. And in the back of my head I've been thinking, is Pinterest really even worth it? Like when I think of the major social media apps, I admittedly oftentimes leave Pinterest off the list. I mention things like TikTok and Instagram and YouTube, but oftentimes Pinterest doesn't even come to mind. But with all of that being said, it's important to recognize a few things. Number one, Pinterest has been around for quite a while. It's not one of these flash in the pan social media apps that's super popular one month and then no one's using it a month later. Pinterest has been around for a long time, and I use Pinterest and my wife uses Pinterest. And when I talk to people about playing, planning for their wedding, or looking up recipes, they oftentimes reference finding things on Pinterest. But there's one really huge misconception that I had going into today's interview, and I'm gonna guess it's a misconception that you have had as well, and that is that Pinterest honestly isn't even a social media app. You're not necessarily wrong to define it as such, but I think that after today's interview, I would categorize Pinterest as a search engine, kind of more along the lines of YouTube or even Google. Also, from today's interview, I found out that the way that I have personally been using Pinterest the last few years was, let's call it misguided. Today on the show, our guest is none other than Jenna Kutcher. You might be a part of her over 1 million Instagram followers, but I bet you didn't know that she was generating thousands of leads per month for her business, using Pinterest and using a strategy that takes only about an hour per week. I'm so excited to get to pick her brain in today's episode. And honestly, it's quite selfish of me to do so because I've been wanting some coaching around Pinterest myself. And after today's episode, I am absolutely going all in on Pinterest, especially considering that going all in isn't going to cost me more than 60 minutes. So, without further ado, here's our interview. Hello, Jenna. Welcome to today's episode.
Jenna Kutcher
Hey, thanks so much for having me.
Brock Johnson
I am so excited for this conversation because, you know, admittedly, oftentimes in these convos, you have to kind of pretend as the interviewer that you don't know what you're talking about.
Jenna Kutcher
Yes.
Brock Johnson
But I know very little of what I'm talking about today. Today, we're going to be talking all about Pinterest, which is something that you've been jamming out on recently. And, you know, we'll get into all of the missteps and mistakes that I am definitely making. So let's just get right into it. You know, why should I or why should any small business owner listening today care about Pinterest? Because, Jenna, they're probably like, oh, my gosh, I have so much going on with Instagram and Facebook and TikTok and YouTube, and now you want me to add Pinterest, so why should I care?
Jenna Kutcher
Okay, so first things first. Pinterest will never take away from the work that you're already doing. What it's going to do is elongate the lifespan of that work that you are creating, and it's going to turn, like, minutes and moments into months. And so how I like to see it is this is not about adding more to your plate. It's about digging for gold in the gold mine that you are likely sitting on and also just helping your work work for you. And so before anyone panics and they're like, not another strategy, not another platform. I can't do it. All I'm asking you to do is reallocate one hour of your life each week to this strategy. And it's going to turn all of your work into something that's working for you.
Brock Johnson
Gotcha. Okay, I can get with that. There's actually this graphic that I posted a few times on Instagram talking about the average lifespan, so to speak, of a post. And there's two things that always people freak out over when they see that post. Number one, the lifespan of a TikTok is like. They call it immediate decay. Basically, immediately once you post it.
Jenna Kutcher
Dead on the vine.
Brock Johnson
Exactly. But then Pinterest is also on that graphic, and it's like the longest, biggest bar on the graphic. And people are like, oh, my gosh, I need to get on Pinterest. So what you're saying, I'm already like, oh, yeah, duh. I've even talked about that before. But I haven't taken it seriously. So who should be posting on Pinterest? Who should be putting their business on Pinterest? And is there anyone who, like, maybe Pinterest shouldn't be for them?
Jenna Kutcher
Okay, this is so good. Before we dive into that, I'm going to tell you something about the lifespan of a pin. So when we think about social, a lot of our posts will be dead within 48 hours tops. Right. That's pretty generous. In my opinion, the average lifespan of one pin, one singular pin on Pinterest, is over 13 months. And that is the half life. So 13 months. So one year from now, plus your work could still be working for you. So I just want to paint that picture. So who should be on Pinterest? So anyone that is creating content. And I mean literally anyone. It doesn't matter what genre you're in. Now, when I say content, I am talking about the stuff that Brock talks about all the time. Whether you are a podcaster, a YouTuber, an Instagram creator, a writer, a blogger like you, what I love about you is you'll advocate like Instagram has a way for every type of creator to be creating on it. So I would say that your audience is a dream for Pinterest because they are likely creating content. Now, who it's not for is people that don't have a clear path. So you might be creating content, but you might not have actually figured out, well, what is the end result of this content? Right. We know general content creators who love, like the dopamine hit of likes and comments, but maybe they don't have a through line of like, where does this lead to and what is valuable in my ecosystem, whether it's a subscriber, an email subscriber, a sale, a call, whatever that looks like. And so if you don't actually have something that can kind of lead traffic into treasure, as I like to call it, Pinterest probably isn't the best platform for you. And the only other thing I would say is if you don't want to have your business a year from now or five years from now, Pinterest is also not the platform for you.
Brock Johnson
Gotcha. Okay, so then where do we even get started with Pinterest? Because I am going to guess that most people here are two things. They're number one, they have a Pinterest account. Like, they've been pinning things for the baby shower, the wedding, the, you know, the birthday party, whatever, Y. But they've never actually used it for business. So what are the steps to get started.
Jenna Kutcher
Okay, so this was me. So if this is you, welcome. You're in good company. Let me tell you a quick story about how I figured this out, because it wasn't even me. So years ago, I was white knuckling my business. I was a wedding photographer in Wisconsin, and I had finally released the white knuckle grip on my business and said, I need help. Right? Those three words that are so, so hard for all of us to utter. And I hired my first virtual assistant. And I will never forget the first time we sat down, we sat across from each other in this small little Wisconsin cafe. And she goes, how's Pinterest working for you? And I looked her dead in the eye and I was like, okay, so let me tell you about my clothing board. Oh, it is so on point. It's so Parisian chic. And let me tell you about this house that I'm going to build someday. It apparently has 20 bathrooms. And we were kind of laughing, and she's like, no, no. Like, how is it working for you? Like, for your business? And I was like, what are you talking about? And I had no idea that the pins that are on the platform are brought on by Pinterest users. I feel like people go on and browse it and they just think like, somehow these. These graphics are there, but people don't connect the dots that, like, you can import a pin onto Pinterest today, you can bring anything onto the platform. So the biggest misconception that people look at is one that is just for, like, vision boards, right? It's a vis search engine. And so we love using it to plan out vacations and our homes and our outfits and all the different things. But what we're missing is that we can actually become contributors to Pinterest. The way that pins get on there is from people bringing them onto the platform. And so if you are someone who is casually pinning, which I love, I love Pinterest. I've never felt bad about myself after being on Pinterest, right, Brock? Like, I can go on to doom scroll on Instagram. I feel like garbage. Like, oh, I'm not pretty enough and I'm not doing enough Pinterest. I'm like, wow, this guy limit.
Brock Johnson
But feel inspired.
Jenna Kutcher
Yes, you do feel inspired. But if you are someone who is just passively pinning, what I want for you to start paying attention to is looking at these pins through the lens of somebody put this on here, right? The creator did. Or somebody that was inspired by the content. Pinterest is not social media. And this is where the biggest disconnect is. People often group Pinterest in the group of the TikToks and the Instagrams. It's not a this or that. It is a totally separate camp. Pinterest is a search engine. It is like a modern day pretty Google. When you go onto Pinterest, you're typing in, you know, how to start a business or how to launch a podcast, or how to find a red dress with ruffly sleeves. Right? We're using it in the way of a search engine, but oftentimes our brain is disconnecting it and telling us it's social media. And so if you're getting started, first pay attention just to your user experience and acknowledging that somebody brought these things on. And then notice what you're typing in to the search bar and how you're leveraging it as a search engine. One thing that I love that you do so well, Brock, is you often break down what Instagram strategy is. So, like, when they launch a new feature, you're telling them, like, okay, this is why they're doing it and this is their hope of it. When we look at Pinterest, what their goal is is to actually connect you with the end result you're seeking. They want to be the connector. They want you to click the link and actually go to the destination. They want you to get the answers and the solutions. A search engine's goal is very different than social media. Social media wants to keep you on the app, keep you scrolling. Whereas a search engine wants to be the bridge that connects you to the solution or the answer that you're looking for. And so it totally changes the strategy. And so a lot of people too, they'll take what's working on social media and they'll bring it on to the search engine. And they'll be like, well, this doesn't work. But they're not actually looking through it or looking at it through the right lens.
Brock Johnson
Gotcha. Okay, so let's talk about then. How do you look through that right lens? Because you said a few times, bringing these pins to Pinterest, whether it's you as the creator or someone else, bringing these pins to Pinterest. So, like, what does that look like? What does that mean? How do we actually put that into practice?
Jenna Kutcher
Okay, so what is incredible about Pinterest is that any user can upload a pin, and when they upload a pin, which is simply in most cases just a graphic, when they upload the pin, you get to designate where you are sending someone to so you literally get to drop in any URL that you want. So this could be a landing page to grow your email list. It could be your YouTube channel, it could be your podcast, it could be your Instagram, it could be your blog, your website, your sales page. You can literally designate any space that you have on the Internet, which is pretty rare, that you can point somebody in any direction. So the other thing about Pinterest is that it prioritizes what they consider fresh content. Now, fresh content doesn't mean that Brock needs to publish a new video every single day. Fresh content just means that it needs to be a variation of something you've posted before. So for this episode of your podcast, Brock, we could create 10, 15, 20, 30 different pins that all point back to this singular piece of content, as long as the graphics, the headlines, or the visuals are unique. Now, what this means in layman's term is if you have a good set of templates in Canva and you have a slight bit of creativity in terms of how you name things or how you promote something, you can create an unlimited amount of pins that can point to one piece of content. This is why it's not about adding more to your already full plate or creating more content. It's about putting a spin on your content. And let me ask you this real quick, Brock. What would be easier for you to do? Go into Canva, leverage a template and create 10 different graphics, or create a brand new podcast episode. The show notes the social clips and all the things that accompany it before you move on to the next. Which one's easier?
Brock Johnson
Yeah, obviously a hundred percent option. A.
Jenna Kutcher
Yes. And so what's amazing is, is that I bet your listeners right now are sitting on tens or hundreds or even thousands of pieces of content that could have pins pointing to it. It could be stuff that you made a year ago, two years ago, that you could turn into pins to land on the Pinterest platform and reach their viewers. So I feel like it should give you an exhale of like, this is really not about doing more. It's about making your work work harder with just a tiny bit of strategy and effort.
Brock Johnson
Gotcha. Okay, so, like, I'm conceptualizing this, thinking about it. It's a search engine, so it's not Instagram where I'm scrolling through reels. It's more like Google. But when I search something on Google nowadays, I get like a big AI response that's never helpful. And then I get like a bunch of links and URLs. And the first seven of them are sponsored and then there's, you know, a bunch of not pretty, right? It's just text, it's links and headlines. So essentially, is this just for, you know, oversimplification purposes? These pins on Pinterest are the same thing as these links on Google, right? These, these headlines. The only difference is on Pinterest, they're visually appealing. Maybe they have a graphic or a video and then they're still going to ultimately direct me to wherever that final destination is.
Jenna Kutcher
Exactly right. And what's awesome is that every single word on Pinterest, because it's a search engine, is searchable. So if you take some of the SEO or search engine optimization strategies that you are likely using in other place in your business, that's all you need is just a tiny bit of keyword strategy. So it could be keywords in the graphic itself, it could be keywords in the pin title, it could be keywords in the description. All you are doing is helping Pinterest connect people that are looking for your work, with your work.
Brock Johnson
Gotcha. Instagram is a beast. There is no lie that every single week the algorithm changes. There's a million new features, there's so much to keep track of, so much you have to worry about. And all you're trying to do is grow your business, trying to get more customers and make more sales on Instagram. That is why we created the Insta Club Hub. To help you learn exactly what you need to know to stay up to date with the changes that are actually relevant to you as a business owner and to help you grow your following and customer base. On Instagram, you can check it out. Best part, for only $7, you can join a two week trial. For only $7, that's 50 cents per day for two weeks. And all you have to do to grab that trial offer is go to instaclubhub.com trial again, that link will be down in the description. But right now, while you're listening, you can just open up your Safari browser or whatever Internet browser you use and just go to instaclubhub.com trial okay, so I'll tell you what I've been doing and let me know if this is a mistake, something wrong, something that could be improved. I use a scheduling tool to schedule all of my posts for TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, whatever. And I'm logged into my Pinterest. So when I'm clicking on the little icons up at the top, I click on Pinterest. So if it's a Reel that's being posted on Instagram, the same video is being posted on Pinterest, but I'm not adding a link to send it anywhere. So is that incorrect? Like, would it be better if I was instead having that link back to my Instagram? Or like, what's going wrong with my strategy there? Because I've seen like literally zero change or results from, from doing what I'm currently doing.
Jenna Kutcher
Right. So, yeah, okay, so you can keep doing that, but I'm going to add just a teeny bit of strategy for you. So we are big fans of Set it and forget it, which is like my life. Like, that is what I want. I want a crock pot meal and I want strategies that I can set and forget. So if the easiest way to get your content onto Pinterest is to keep that feature selected so that you know it's getting onto the platform, that's fantastic. You can keep that on. What I would recommend then is setting a timer or a reminder for 20 minutes at the end of your week to go on to your newly uploaded pins and to add a little bit of strategy. So that's where you could add in the backlink and you could add in a more SEO optimized title and description for your pin. Because oftentimes when you're using different things like Planoly or Tailwind or whatever you're using to auto schedule, it's not optimized for Pinterest in terms of searchability. And so if it's easier to just have it auto post and then you go in and tweak, there's no harm in doing that. And you're not like tanking your ability to get results. There's nothing there. Because again, this is the long game. But you'll add in that strategy. And so what you can do is you can decide, okay, where do I want to send this to? What is the best way to send it? Somewhere where it's traffic. But I can turn that into something I'm the biggest fan of. Sending it to places you own on the Internet, whether it's a website or a blog, versus sending it to other platforms where you don't necessarily get to capture any sort of data or any of their information. But what I would just say is then just go in on a Friday, look at the pins that automatically uploaded, jump in. You can even use ChatGPT and say, Write me a title for this Instagram caption that's SEO optimized and great for Pinterest. Drop those things in and designate where you want it to go, and that's how that content will work for you longer than when you just hit publish. Does that make sense?
Brock Johnson
Yeah, that totally makes sense. And that's very doable. I want to come back to a question around like graphics versus videos versus reels. But before I do that, this is probably going to be a quicker question. Are there any sort of account settings or profile things that we need to be aware of on Instagram? They, in Instagram fashion, they always overcomplicate it with like you could be business, professional, creator, personal, private, whatever. Is there anything like that that we should be aware of or make sure that we set up correctly on Pinterest?
Jenna Kutcher
Yes. So that's a fabulous question, Brock. So you want to make sure your business account. So without being a business account, you don't have access to analytics and you also can't make your profile super optimized. So with a business account, you could have like Brock Johnson, Instagram strategy expert, as your title. And you teach this too with kind of like optimizing your bio. It's actually very similar to the strategies you teach in Instagram in Pinterest. It's just again, every word that you're putting in there is searchable. And so you want to make sure the words and phrases that you're using both in your title and in your bio are very clear. So very similar to what you teach there. You also just want to have a business account because that will give you access to the analytics. It'll also unlock a few features like linking to your website and different things like that as well. It's a super easy process. Once you do it once, you don't ever have to do it again. And so it just takes a few minutes. But that will switch your account from personal to business, which will then allow you to kind of think a little bit more strategically and have more strategy in place.
Brock Johnson
Gotcha. Okay, totally makes sense. Back to my question about graphics versus videos. Yeah, you mentioned earlier having like Canva templates. You mentioned you said the word graphics few times. Do graphics or you know, quote unquote, still images perform better. Is that more of the norm and the expectation on pinterest than these 7 second reels that are being posted on Instagram.
Jenna Kutcher
Yes. Okay, so this will maybe give your audience another sigh of relief, but I just saw a stat that it said like the average reel is taking entrepreneurs three to four hours based on what they're creating, which I haven't made sure. But for me that's kind of true. It takes me a long time. But what we've done is like in my business is for every podcast episode that goes out, I created 10 templates to turn one podcast episode into 10 graphics. One graphic is just the title of my show, then the next graphic is the title of my show with my photo. Then the next graphic is a pull quote from the episode. The next graphic could be an infographic. Again, it's just slightly varying either the way that you're talking about the episode or the way the graphic is. One thing that's really great about Pinterest is that it's not necessarily the popularity contest that social media can feel like, because users on there aren't specifically generally typing in your name. Unless you're super well known, people aren't going onto Pinterest and typing in your name. So there's a stat that 96% of searches on Pinterest are unbranded searches, meaning that people are really interested in being exposed to new creators, new offers, new products, which is a huge relief for small businesses and people that are just starting out. Like the other day I was looking for a red dress and I had like a specific vision in my mind and I just couldn't find what I was looking for. And it was popping up. All these different boutiques I would have never found, I would have never heard of. I don't care where I'm getting this red dress from. I just want to find what I'm looking for. And so what's awesome about Pinterest is for people that prefer to be a little bit more faceless in their marketing or they want to not necessarily be like the performer in their business. Pinterest is amazing. And so for you, Brock, you have such SEO optimized titles, which I know is strategic on your part when it comes to YouTube. And so there are so many different ways that you could take one YouTube episode and take different clips, use stock photos, plain backgrounds, talk to different segments of your audience. Like you could do one. Like Instagram strategies for small business owners, Instagram strategies for course creators, Instagram strategies for product based businesses. So all of these different ways are easy ways to create new graphics that promote and point to the same thing. So what I rely on is just templates. And here's the secret sauce of this. At this point, I don't even do my own Pinterest strategy. I outsource the one hour a week to an amazing VA on my team. Because once the templates are created, all she does is take that piece of published content and dissect it and break it down and she's ready to rock. And keeping in mind, if you think about it, one episode of your Show Turning into 10 pins, the average lifespan of one pin is 13 months. Now think about 10 pins being published spaced out over a period of time. Your episode that you're recording right now can be working for you in the next year. And I feel like that's just such a different mentality than social media, where it's just like we're constantly creating and kind of feeding the beast. And so it totally transforms the way that you create content and also the way that you look at the promotion of the content you create.
Brock Johnson
I love it. We are 100% going to implement everything you are saying. And so I'm speaking right now to the person in the future who I bet is finding this episode on Pinterest. And then now it's kind of like this.
Jenna Kutcher
It's better.
Brock Johnson
I like interest Inception. Yeah, I love it. Okay, so you mentioned spacing them out over a period of time. And you know, I understand that if I space them out, then it's just going to extend the lifespan, so to speak. But in terms of frequency on Instagram, we say the more you post, the more you grow. On TikTok, the same is true. Is there best practice? And I know, you know, Pinterest isn't, like you said earlier, it's not a social media as much. It's more of a search engine. So is it truly the more the merrier with posting on Pinterest? Is it, hey, give them at least an hour so they can breathe. What's the best practice in terms of frequency?
Jenna Kutcher
Okay, you're gonna love this. Okay, so the way that I teach it is it literally takes one hour a week. You can log in and you can log out. So unlike the social platforms. And again, this isn't a comparison, it's just pointing the distinction. Unlike the social platforms where you shouldn't just like post and ghost, you need to stay on and engage and be in your DMs. This is truly a. You upload it and you can ghost because it's not necessarily about likes and comments and that kind of thing. So it's a very different mindset. So what we recommend is even if you just uploaded one to two fresh pins, fresh just meaning different variations. It can be old content being resurfaced, but fresh graphics to Pinterest a day, you can get really great success. So that's just one to two. So that would be about creating 14 different graphics in Canva in one week, pointing to different types of work that you've done. Now, the recommendation and what we do personally on my team, because we have such a gold mine of content, we have thousands upon thousands of posts and episodes and all the different things is that we typically post around 5 to 15 pins a day. Now, when I say we're posting it, we're just scheduling these out to be dropping. And it's pretty easy to do that when you have templates to rely on and you can look at a piece of content and splice and dice it. In fact, you can go into ChatGPT and you could upload a transcript of this episode and say, give me 10 different angles for this. And it would literally spit out amazing headlines that you could use on these graphics. So the one thing to keep in mind is that if you have a piece of content and let's say brock, you create 10 pins for it, my recommendation would be, is if you have enough content to do this, which you do, would be to space out those pins at least by one week. Just so you're not spamming Pinterest with all of these pins that are super similar pointing to that one piece of content. If you can't do that, you're not going to be penalized. You likely just might not get as great of results. And so if somebody is listening, my recommendation would be pick three pieces of content that you've already created that maybe performed well in the past and create, let's say, three different pins for that. That'd be nine pins. That would be enough to get the one to two pins per day for the next week. And you could schedule it, set it, and forget it, and then log in again on Monday. So that's kind of how we approach it. There's really not a ton of rules. Like, what's interesting to me is it doesn't ever feel like you're like gaming the system. I've been teaching Pinterest for some seven years now, like teaching the strategy. And what's incredible is, is like I just re recorded my entire program and not a lot had changed. Like, it wasn't like this massive shift from like, oh my gosh, last year to this year. There's this algorithm drop and everything is not working. And so that gives me a lot of peace in the process. They also recently announced a verified Pinterest educators program, which I'm a part of. And I also just think that that is awesome in the sense of it's not like you're gaming a system. I think sometimes we can get strategies. And it kind of feels like, well, this could work for now, but it might not work in a month. They're backing what we teach. And so I just want you, your listeners to listen with a lens of like, this isn't about gaming it. This is exactly how they want you to be using it.
Brock Johnson
Gotcha. That makes sense. And that's so cool. Congratulations on that. I love you know, and it totally makes sense that you are one of those verified educators because you're someone who teaches strategies that are proven to work and will work over the long haul. And it's not like a flash in the pan hack that's going to work for the next 12 hours and then, hey, if you don't see this episode the day it was posted, it's gone forever. But speaking of those strategies, I would love to first of all, just understand this might be a very silly beginner question, but on Instagram we have stories, we have carousels, like the slideshows, we have photos, and we have reels, and we have live. What are the different kinds of content that we can post or the different kinds of posts we can pin on Pinterest?
Jenna Kutcher
Yeah, so the main one that is like 98% of what we do is just a singular graphic. It is just one single standalone graphic. Now, they have recently released, like carousels, where you can have multiple pins. It's limited to five. So it's kind of like a series of five where people can scroll through and then they also do video pins, but they're often no audio. It's just like a video clip. So a lot of times my team will take my reels that I post that are more like B roll, which we all know aren't working as great these days, but they can take that content and also post it onto Pinterest. There is also one thing that I think is interesting to call out is that there's Pinterest ads. And for most of my career on Pinterest, we've gone straight organic, like no paid strategy, gotten results with no paid strategy. But one thing that's been interesting is as we've been using Pinterest ads more, we've been seeing that our cost per lead for our last launch was nearly half of the cost per lead that we were getting on meta, which is really interesting because we're not anti meta. Like I use Instagram and Facebook all the time and that's how we get a ton of leads. But it was wild because we were able to track the performance of pinterest users all the way through the funnel. And those leads performed the same as our meta leads, but the cost was 1/2. Why this is important is I think a lot of people do feel slightly stuck with like all the eggs in one basket. Right. And if something changes or something's not working, it's not like you can just throw spaghetti at the wall without a cost. And so Pinterest ads are also a really awesome place. And what we also realized through Pinterest ads is that we were being exposed to people that wouldn't have naturally been in our world or in our ecosystem. So with Pinterest ads, you can also leverage the single graphics or the videos. And a lot of times we'll just take what's already working, res it for Pinterest, which now Instagram is, is actually the formatting matches a lot easier with the more portrait style fitting. And so it's really not a lot of extra work on our part. They've done different things in the past where like you can literally click and get taken directly to the shop. So it's a really direct path for product based businesses where it literally takes somebody to check out and if they have like shop pay or shopify, it's like, oh my God, I could literally buy something in about five seconds. And so they're always kind of trying different things. But the main one that we do is just a single graphic. And it's so easy to create a single graphic for basically anything you've already made.
Brock Johnson
Totally makes sense. Let's talk more about some of the best practices for those single graphics. I'm just curious.
Jenna Kutcher
Yeah.
Brock Johnson
You know, have you found that portrait works better than landscape? Is there a certain amount of words or a certain, like, you know, should we have a human's face on it plus a headline plus a subheader? Like, what is the best practice? And I'm sure it varies person to person, business to business. But are there any general things to keep in mind with those graphics?
Jenna Kutcher
Yes. So we only do vertical oriented pins because just like on Instagram, it takes a more landscape visually. So again, a lot of similarities there. Now one of my favorite things about Pinterest is you can split test any idea, any headline, any graphic, any color, any font. You can split test anything with no risk or without feeling like you're standing on stage naked in front of your audience. And so it removes the vulnerability that a lot of people feel in desiring to test or experiment with something. Because it's like on Instagram, you know, trial reels, I Guess kind of did that for us a little bit. Like, takes away the. The barrier of embarrassment or vulnerability. But what's incredible about Pinterest is, like, you get the analytics, so we've done it to, like, split test ad graphics or different things like that. The point of this is, is that there's no risk of having a bad graphic, so you're not penalized or it's not going to negatively impact you. It'll just give you data. But the main things that we found are a really clear headline. Just like you would do a hook on Instagram. How to articles do so well on Pinterest? When you think of a search engine, a lot of times you're typing in, like, how do I start a podcast? Or how do I leverage Instagram stories? So how to do really, really well. A lot of our graphics will have some sort of call to action. Again, very similar to Instagram, but just a little button that says, click me. The button itself is not clickable, but the graphic is. And then we often will see that our greater results comes from graphics that don't have my face on me. Because, remember, it's unbranded searches. People aren't necessarily looking for me. They're looking for an answer. And so the majority of our pins are not highlighting Jenna Kutcher. They're highlighting the content. And it helps you to connect that content to the person, and then they can get to know you in the content piece itself. And so, again, for people that want to take a little step back or not necessarily be the face, it's amazing. But I just love it because it's like, Brock, let's say tomorrow, you're like, I want my brand to be like, orange and lime green. You could test that out and split test it using similar graphics with different branding and just see what performs better. And so it's kind of a good testing ground for people, too.
Brock Johnson
Gotcha. I totally see how this makes so much sense. I see how I could do this in less than an hour a week. I see how I could have someone on our team do this. I also am imagining I'm probably not technical enough to figure it out, but there are probably people listening who are technical enough to figure out how to do a lot of this automatically with AI, which is super cool. But I also know that there's even more strategy. There's those templates that you talked about, and I know you have an upcoming webinar. So can you tell us a little bit more about that?
Jenna Kutcher
Yes. Okay. So I just want to tell Everyone, here's what I want you to know. To learn the system, it doesn't take a long time. Like, it is not this process where it's like 800 steps and you've got to figure it out. It's very simple and that's why I love it. So my upcoming masterclass is called Create Once Traffic for Months. How to lengthen the lifespan of your content and make your work work for you. And I love teaching this because at the heart of my mission is to allow people to have life first businesses. Brock, you are someone who I admire, who I know you have hobbies and I want my work to be the least interesting part of my life. Like I want to live just such a full life. And so as summer is coming and people's time is about to evaporate and they want to be spending their time in other places, let me show you the one hour a week strategy that can make your work work for you and that can help you spend your precious time in a way that gives you results. So if you sign up, you can go to teachmetopin.com that's teachmetopin.com, save your seat. I would love to just walk you through this process and help your work live on and create the results that you want it to create.
Brock Johnson
Amazing. Well, we will link that up in the show notes below, but thank you so much for being here. Two final quick questions. One is last words of advice, any parting messages, anything that you want to share with our audience before we part ways.
Jenna Kutcher
So I would say define what your version of success is. And for me, I used to focus on what success looked like and now I focus on what success feels like. And for me, it's being able to step off of the content creation hamster wheel and have work that is working for me in the background. Like nothing is sexier. Going to bed at night knowing that my work is driving results for me. And so how do you want your life to feel? And the second thing is is that treat time as your currency. So look at where your time is going and make sure that every hour of your time has an ROI that feels worth it to you. And for me, I love Instagram. I show up on there every day, but my real ROI is coming from the traffic that Pinterest is driving, leveraging all the things I've been creating.
Brock Johnson
Amazing. And we will link up like I said, the masterclass in the show notes. But where's the best place to get connected with you? Just if we want to follow more all things Jenna and check out more of what you're up to.
Jenna Kutcher
Yes, well, I'll tell you Pinterest, which you can buy me Jenna Kutcher, and Instagram is Jenna Kutcher. And I would love for you to also listen to the Gold Digger podcast. I got to tell them our quick, funny story, Brock, about what happened. So Brock is going to be on my podcast. It's such a killer episode. I have been in the podcasting game for a long time. Hundreds of episodes, over a hundred million downloads. Poor Brock comes on my podcast and I hit the wrong record button. People, if you've ever been mortified, if you wonder if the great still mess up, the answer is absolutely, positively. And I'm so grateful that I messed up with someone as amazing as Brock. So come and listen to his episode on my show because it's the second crack at it, and the second time was even better than the first. But I'd love to have you listen in at the Gold Digger podcast where you can hear amazing people just like Brock.
Brock Johnson
Definitely amazing podcast. And I'll link that up in the show notes as soon as that specific episode comes out. But that was a blast. And even today, you and I, and I think it's important for people to hear not just about the forgetting to hit record or that technical issue, but also even today with this conversation. We've been talking about having this conversation around Pinterest for a while, and we literally planned this via text about 10 minutes before we got started. I was like, hey, do you want to do it now? I was about to go for a hike, but we changed our mind. She's like, yeah, let's do it now. And then I send her the link and here we are. So anyways, Jenna, you are amazing. Such a light. And thank you for being here today.
Jenna Kutcher
Thank you for having me.
Brock Johnson
Before you go, I do have one final question, and it is, would you like me to do more interviews here on Build you'd Tribe? Of course, now that Chalene isn't the co host anymore and it's just me, that kind of opens us up for some more experts to come on. And I am definitely open to interviewing more experts like Jenna or like Adam Mozeri, the head of Instagram that we've already had on the show. So let me know. Would you like to hear from more guest experts and interviews? Or if not, is there. Is there a topic that you would like me to address and talk about in a future episode of Build you'd Tribe? Thank you so much for being here this week. And as always, happy networking.
Build Your Tribe | Grow Your Business with Social Media Episode 831: How To Make Money On Pinterest In 1 Hour Per Week with Jenna Kutcher Release Date: May 1, 2025
In Episode 831 of Build Your Tribe | Grow Your Business with Social Media, host Brock Johnson delves deep into the often-overlooked potential of Pinterest as a powerful tool for business growth. Joined by Jenna Kutcher, a renowned business coach and serial entrepreneur, the episode uncovers effective strategies to harness Pinterest’s capabilities without overwhelming your weekly schedule.
Brock Johnson begins by addressing a common sentiment among entrepreneurs: the reluctance to adopt another social media platform amidst the already crowded landscape of Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. He expresses his own skepticism about Pinterest's relevance compared to these giants.
Brock Johnson [00:00]: "Is Pinterest really even worth it? Like when I think of the major social media apps, I admittedly oftentimes leave Pinterest off the list."
Jenna Kutcher counters this skepticism by emphasizing Pinterest's longevity and unique position as a blend between a social media platform and a search engine. Unlike fleeting apps, Pinterest has sustained its presence and continues to be a valuable resource for users seeking inspiration and solutions.
Jenna Kutcher [02:57]: "Pinterest will never take away from the work that you're already doing. What it's going to do is elongate the lifespan of that work that you are creating."
A significant portion of the discussion revolves around redefining Pinterest’s identity. Brock initially perceives Pinterest as a typical social media platform, but Jenna elucidates its true nature as a robust search engine designed to connect users with actionable content.
Jenna Kutcher [04:30]: "Pinterest is a search engine. It is like a modern-day pretty Google. When you go onto Pinterest, you're typing in, you know, how to start a business or how to launch a podcast, or how to find a red dress with ruffled sleeves."
This paradigm shift is crucial for businesses to understand Pinterest's potential in driving long-term traffic and leads, distinguishing it from the fleeting interactions typical of other social media platforms.
For entrepreneurs new to Pinterest, Jenna offers a practical roadmap to integrating the platform into their business strategy without adding significant workload.
Jenna Kutcher [06:38]: "It’s not about adding more to your already full plate or creating more content. It's about putting a spin on your content."
She shares her personal journey of transitioning from passive pinning to strategic use, highlighting the importance of aligning Pinterest activities with clear business objectives. Jenna underscores that Pinterest should complement existing efforts rather than compete with them.
Brock raises a pertinent question about common pitfalls, specifically his own experience of cross-posting Instagram content to Pinterest without seeing results.
Brock Johnson [16:08]: "I use a scheduling tool to schedule all of my posts for TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, whatever. And I'm logged into my Pinterest."
Jenna advises refining this approach by enhancing each pin with optimized titles, descriptions, and designated URLs to drive traffic effectively.
Jenna introduces the concept of maximizing existing content by repurposing it for Pinterest, thereby extending its reach and lifespan.
Jenna Kutcher [10:41]: "Any user can upload a pin, and when they upload a pin, which is simply in most cases just a graphic, you get to designate where you are sending someone to."
She emphasizes creating multiple variations of a single piece of content to generate a steady stream of pins over time. This strategy not only conserves resources but also ensures sustained engagement.
Jenna Kutcher [12:38]: "One hour a week strategy that can make your work work for you and help you spend your precious time in a way that gives you results."
The discussion also highlights the seamless integration of Pinterest with other platforms, allowing businesses to funnel traffic to their preferred destinations, such as websites, blogs, or sales pages.
A critical element of a successful Pinterest strategy is the creation of compelling visuals. Jenna provides actionable tips on designing effective pins that attract and convert.
Jenna Kutcher [30:40]: "We only do vertical oriented pins... What's incredible about Pinterest is you can split test any idea, any headline, any graphic, any color, any font."
Key best practices include:
Jenna also touches on the flexibility Pinterest offers, allowing businesses to experiment with different designs and messaging without the fear of negative repercussions.
The conversation underscores Pinterest’s capacity to provide lasting value compared to other platforms with transient content lifespans.
Jenna Kutcher [13:13]: "The average lifespan of one pin, one singular pin on Pinterest, is over 13 months."
This extended lifespan means that a single hour invested weekly can yield continuous traffic and leads for over a year. Jenna shares her approach of outsourcing Pinterest management to a virtual assistant, emphasizing the efficiency and scalability of this strategy.
Jenna Kutcher [23:56]: "There’s no risk of having a bad graphic, so you're not penalized or it's not going to negatively impact you. It'll just give you data."
This methodical approach ensures that content remains relevant and continues to drive engagement without necessitating constant creation of new posts.
As the episode wraps up, Jenna imparts foundational advice for businesses looking to capitalize on Pinterest:
Define Success Personally: Focus on what success feels like rather than conforming to external benchmarks.
Jenna Kutcher [35:04]: "Define what your version of success is... how do you want your life to feel?"
Treat Time as Currency: Prioritize activities that offer the highest return on investment for your time.
Jenna Kutcher [35:04]: "Treat time as your currency... every hour of your time has an ROI that feels worth it to you."
Brock acknowledges the value of Jenna’s insights and encourages listeners to explore Pinterest with a strategic mindset. He also promotes Jenna’s upcoming masterclass, which promises to provide deeper dives into effective Pinterest strategies.
Jenna Kutcher [33:41]: "My upcoming masterclass is called Create Once Traffic for Months. How to lengthen the lifespan of your content and make your work work for you."
The episode concludes with mutual appreciation and a reaffirmation of Pinterest’s potential as a steadfast component of a comprehensive digital marketing strategy.
By embracing these strategies, entrepreneurs can transform Pinterest from a casual pinning pastime into a formidable engine for business growth, all within the manageable commitment of one hour per week.