The website has an effective layout and a simple principle of user creativity; members “pin” photographs of recipes, travel destinations, quotes, pets, or anything else they deem entertaining enough into their account. As a user you are free to browse over this information on the central page and, if registered, comment. Following the initial appeal of using the site for entertainment value, some soon began to consider how the website could be utilised to promote businesses. It is not immediately obvious how as the site is different in how it approaches user interaction. When compared to Facebook and Twitter it all suddenly seems like a lot of unnecessary hassle – this is not a case of typing out a brief message and hitting “send”. However, if used correctly the impact on your customers could be far greater than an arbitrary tweet, or gaining a score of “Likes”.But to the basics: first you have to register your account, and to do that you need to request an invitation. Once you receive one you can register your company and begin to alter the settings to suit your businesses’ needs. The next stage is to create some pinboards so that you have some content for your account. This is where Pinterest comes into its own. The more creative you are the more interest you will receive. There are some fundamental tips to follow in order to make things run smoothly for you, and one of the first things you can do is link the old with the new. Your Twitter account can join with Pinterest and, as both use similar techniques to make posts more searchable, you will find using hash tags a familiar practice.

The informal nature of Pinterest is something your business should exploit in order to interact with customers like never before. Essentially you can provide a pictorial of your wares to other users, showcasing what you have to offer. To be even more personal you can add pictures of staff members or the view from the office window. Displaying your corner of the world to customers is a friendly touch. However, Pinterest do insist you limit the self-promotion as the site is, after all, about creativity and not commercial gain. This means you must be creative, too, if you expect to be allowed to use the site! Assigning a staff member with creative flair for this task could work wonders in finding the correct approach. For instance, if you sell computer products you could endeavour to have photographs taken of your products in unusual places. It is far more entertaining (and in keeping with Pinterest’s sensibilities) to take a keyboard to unusual destinations for an impromptu photo shoot; you could go to the local cafe and pretend to be meeting it for lunch. Silly creativity such as this will get you much further than having a collection of your wares photographed proper up on one of your desks. Customers appreciate a brand with a sense of fun. Literally, the more eccentric and surreal, and the more “cute” factor you apply, the more people will take interest in your account.

What other steps can you take to promote your company? Connecting with your customers is a must – once users are aware of your presence you should engage in the Pinterest spirit. The age old competition takes on a new meaning with Pinterest. Encourage your customers to send in pictures of them using your products – having a user-generated board is great free content. It is also good publicity as it connects you with your customers in a way tweeting or using Facebook never can. But, ultimately, your success with Pinterest depends on your commitment to it. Regularly updating your account with new pictures is a must, as is including well placed backlinks to your business website. It is important to remember to show your fun side; your account reflects your company persona. Your customers want to feel like you are engaging with them wilfully, and not finding another way to divert them to your products.

There are a myriad of uses and what is detailed here is just the beginning. Pinterest will continue to grow and with it will come many new changes, and as it is in such an early stage there is no telling how popular the site will go on to be. Regardless, your company should be riding the crest of this creative wave and be willing to pin its way to a well earned sales boost. If you can have some fun along the way then consider it a job well done!

This guest post was submitted by Alex Morris who works for Office Kitten in Manchester where he writes, researches and blogs about the business world. He can also be followed on Twitter.

Don’t Just Talk about Yourself and Your Company

Your intention may be to promote your product and your company, but even the most loyal fans will become turned off by your message if all they hear from you is self-promotion. You need to give your customers a reason to follow you and to remain active subscribers. Share value-added content with your readers that informs or entertains, such as relevant news stories or studies, tips they can use or project ideas. Knowing that content like this is available will make customers more likely to frequent your profile and to engage with your company.

Interact with Fans

Customers know when they are being seen as dollar signs — and they don’t like it. Show that you value your relationship with your customers and make an effort to engage with them. Respond to comments, post polls and encourage discussion on your profile. Ask for their opinions and respond in a thoughtful manner. Hold customer-appreciation promotions such as recognizing birthdays and other special events, highlighting fan profiles or offering random giveaways.

Control Spam

Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of viewing their social-networking profiles as an extension of their mailing list or ad campaign. In so thinking, these business owners are more likely to send out a lot of spam, including repeated mass e-mails or wall posts about events or promotions. Whether these are sent in a private message, posted on your profile or posted on your fans’ profiles, your customers will view them as spam. Remember to establish an opt-in e-mail list for these kinds of notifications so that only customers interested in receiving the information will get it. For all others, a few posts on your own profile will suffice to get the word out.

Also, be cognizant of monitoring spam that others may post on your wall. If you allow readers to share their own events or information on your profile, be sure that this is kept to a reasonable amount. If your profile is full of posts that are advertising a promotion or trying to sell a product or service — whether it’s your own or another’s — your customers will not be likely to remain subscribers to your profile.

Watch Your Posts

The number of posts that you should share in any given day varies, and there is no real formula for how much is too much and how much is too little. However, you should avoid the appearance of posting too often lest customers become annoyed, and you should avoid the appearance of posting too infrequently lest customers become bored. How do you know if your posts are appearing too often or too little? Monitoring interactivity from your customers is a good indication. If you are getting a lot of feedback, you are likely offering just the right amount of posts. If you aren’t getting any feedback, you’re either boring them or annoying them — either by the frequency or the content of your posts.

Remember that You’re a Business

There are plenty of ways for people to interact personally on social-networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Avoid these pitfalls and remember that you are a business promoting your brand, not a person trying to share your personality and opinions or to make friends. Don’t send out invites to games and other apps. Don’t use foul language. Don’t post links to political or religious items (unless that is what your business is about). Always maintain a professional demeanor and leave your personal preferences for your personal profile.

Social media is a powerful marketing platform for small businesses and corporations alike. However, young entrepreneurs must remember these and other important rules of etiquette in order to properly leverage the power of these platforms to attract and not alienate new clients.

Amanda Tradwick is a grant researcher and writer for CollegeGrants.org. She has a Bachelor’s degrees from the University of Delaware, and has recently finished research on college grants for married students and north dakota education grants.

If you are on Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Flikr, Youtube, etc and are making money and growing your business, by being social, then you’re the people we are looking for. You don’t have to be Gary Vaynerchuk, John Chow, Joel Comm, or Shoemoney to get interviewed. If you’ve had success with growing your business and company on social media sites and with social networking, then here is your chance to share some tips, tell your story, and get some more exposure and followers!

Come One! Come All! Social Media Consultants, Coaches, Marketers, Affiliates, Personal Branders, Authors, Designers, Developers, Programmers, whoever you are – drop a comment here and we’ll be in touch to set up an interview to be posted here on Dorm Room Biz!

Thursday night I went to a social media presentation in Downtown Orlando that was put on by Doterati. Doterati is an Orlando area based group of social media interested people. You can read more about the organization and see their upcoming events on their website www.doterati.com. They have a tweetup coming up [tonight] night which I am going to try to make it to.

Anyway, the presentation was about utilizing social media and a little bit on the side of social media consulting. One of the slides was titled “Do Epic Shit” and the idea was that you should be making big moves to get your self noticed on Twitter, the blogosphere, Facebook or wherever else.

I liked the idea of “Do Epic Shit” because it does not just apply to your social media and networking presence but to business in general. So I thought I’d make a quick video about it. I recorded this Thursday night after getting back to my hotel.

I’d love to hear your comments about doing epic shit and hustling to get your business out there and noticed!