This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
How pin-spiration became a full-time hustle. Welcome friends, welcome to Side Hustle School. Welcome as well to Throwback Thursday. Got a good one for you today. We're gonna take an in-depth look at someone whose story has evolved since we first featured them.
Last week in this segment, we heard from a maker who turned a small Etsy shop selling custom pet memorials into a, well, it's not a big business, but she's doing pretty well. Since their last appearance, she's expanded her product line, found new ways to help grieving pet owners honor their companions. Well, that was last week. But today, a former lifestyle blogger ditches her old site and goes all in with Pinterest affiliate marketing. And she's actually making pretty much a full-time income with this.
Full-time income posting on Pinterest. What a world we live in. And this is something I first wrote about, I don't know, at least seven years ago. It's not like a ton of people are doing this, but some people are, more than one, right? So learn how seasonal boards, diversified merchants, some creative strategies have helped her surpass her old ad-based blogging revenue.
How do people actually make money posting on Pinterest? Well, listen to this story and let's talk about it. Like I said, I enjoyed working on this one. I hope you like it as well. I'm gonna pass the mic.
I'll be back at the end with a few words of wrap up. [Music]
Hey, it's Leah, and I used to be a lifestyle blogger focusing on DIY tips and recipes. My Pinterest boards were just a way to bring people over to my blog and hopefully spark interest in my homemade candles or slow cooker chili recipes. We first talked on Side Hustle School when I discovered affiliate marketing and started sprinkling monetized links into my pins, which brought in a few hundred dollars a month. Back then, it was just a neat experiment.
I remember being thrilled if I made a hundred dollars from affiliate links in a single week. It felt like free money. I was already pinning pictures of cool products, so I figured, why not attach an affiliate code? After the initial excitement of adding affiliate links to pins, I noticed a lot of the traffic that came to my site wasn't necessarily reading my content. They just wanted to see more images of the product I'd pinned.
That realization led me to think, maybe I don't need a blog post in between. Maybe I can link directly to the product. Over a few months, I tested pins that went straight to affiliate offers, skipping my blog altogether. The results were better than I expected. Certain niches like Kitchen Gadgets or Seasonal Decor converted at a higher rate when I sent viewers directly to the product page.
I also discovered that some affiliate programs offered bigger payouts if I linked from social media like Pinterest, rather than from my own site. Initially, I worried about how brand partners might react if I bypassed my blog. Surprisingly, many of them embraced it because all they cared about was the traffic and conversions. As long as I was following their guidelines, no deceptive pins, correct disclosures, and so on, they were happy. Pinterest is a search engine at heart, so I looked for trending keywords and phrases people use when searching for these products.
For instance, Zero Waste Kitchen or Farmhouse Christmas Wreath. I added those keywords in my pin descriptions. Beyond Amazon, I joined other affiliate networks like Share A Sale, CJ, and Impact, looking for specific merchants that offered household items, clothing, or crafts. This expanded my options and let me pick more partners. Last but not least, I checked which pins got the most clicks, then refined the designs.
If a certain style, like a bright minimalist pin, outperformed a busy layout, I'd adapt. I also learned the best time to post a repin typically evenings and weekends for home decor audiences. At some point, the balance tipped. I was spending more time brainstorming new Pinterest boards and affiliate deals than I was updating my blog. My affiliate commissions reached a point where they rivaled my blog ad revenue.
When that happened, I did something I never anticipated. I stepped back from regular blogging and focused almost entirely on these Pinterest boards. My blog was bringing in $2,000 monthly from ads and sponsored posts, plus an extra $500 from affiliate links. Once I ramped up, Pinterest affiliate marketing alone started bringing in $4,000 to $5,000 monthly. Over a particularly lucrative holiday season, I even hit $7,000 in a single month.
That's when I realized this is no longer just a side project. I can treat this as a legit business. My next goal, launching a mini course on Pinterest affiliate marketing for others who want to replicate this model. For now, I'm happy to say this once overlooked platform has become my primary revenue stream with minimal overhead and a flexible schedule. Every morning, I get up, check my affiliate dashboard, and watch as those carefully curated boards continue to pay off.
If you've ever considered using Pinterest beyond personal mood boards, I definitely recommend you give it a look. [Music]
All right, big thanks to Leah for sharing that update. As I said, Pinterest, what a world we live in. I do think it is the social network that people sleep on, including myself. I've been hoping to develop a Pinterest strategy for years now, and I just haven't because I'm kind of one person.
I don't outsource a ton. But if you're out there and you're looking for your next thing, then I think Pinterest is an underrated network, as I've said several times, because it brings a lot of traffic to a lot of people's websites, and it is possible to actually monetize with it as this person has done. So good work to Leah. Listeners, good work to you as well. I'm cheering you on.
I hope your year is going well. We're about halfway through. This is episode 3,078 of the podcast. I love making this show for you every day. It's always free.
As you know, if you've been around for a while, if not, well, guess what? It's always free. Welcome. Thanks for being part of it. You can listen and subscribe and follow wherever you get your podcasts or download the entire archive of the show.
Again, 3,000 plus episodes at sidehustleschool.com. Much more is on the way. My name's Chris Guillebeau. You are listening to Side Hustle School. [Music]
From the Onward Project.
