I’ve been using Pinterest since it first started. Like domain names, I’ve had way too many Pinterest accounts over the years to not be embarrassed about it. I’ve tried it both ways, one account for business and one for personal, as well as combining both in the same account. Which one is the right way for you and your business? Like so many things, the answer is “it depends.”
Two Different Accounts
If you have a business the most common way to use Pinterest is to have two separate accounts – one for your personal interests, and one for your business. When I first opened a business Pinterest account I had a web design business and I wanted the focus of my boards to be about web design, branding and running a small business.
I wanted the focus of my business Pinterest boards to be about the topics and information my clients were looking for to run their business when they searched Pinterest. I kept my business Pinterest account all about their needs for THEIR business.
All the pins related to my personal interests were pinned to boards on a personal Pinterest account, so everything was kept completely separate.
One Pinterest Account
Then for a while I decided to combine the personal and business accounts into one Pinterest account. It was about the time I decided to change the focus of my business and the type of client I wanted to work with.
I no longer wanted to work with every and any new business owner to build their online presence. I wanted to work with creative and spiritual entrepreneurs.
Because I had a lot of similar (personal) interests I wanted to show potential clients we were kindred spirits. I understood the type of business they wanted to create, so I created boards about crystals, spirituality, mindfulness, meditation, art, illustration, Human Design, Enneagram, etc, as well as the more technical boards. These were my personal interests but I felt they were relevant to my potential clients and it showed I could relate to their needs and goals for their website.
I wanted to ATTRACT these people to my boards and into my business. So it made sense to have a business Pinterest account that also included my personal interests as well.
If there was personal interests I didn’t think were relevant to my clients, I kept them on the same account but made the boards “secret” so only I could see them and they didn’t muddy up my Pinterest account for my potential clients.
Two Business Accounts
Since I’m no longer a web designer, what am I doing now? I’ve gone back to using two separate boards but they are both related to art, illustration and the new business I am trying to create.
Why two business Pinterest account? My primary Pinterest account is related to “Curiously Designed,” my business. I am in the process of cleaning it out (again) and transferring a lot of the content to either the other Pinterest account or making the boards “secret.”
I have two accounts because the second one is very specialized. It is a Pinterest account about art prompts. I thought it would be fun to collect and curate all types of images that could help me and other illustrators in their art, so I named it Art Prompt Cards.
It is also in a state of disarray. Slowly but surely I hope it will be a fun and useful resource for inspiration and help with sketching or creating illustrations.
There are a couple of warnings here. First, it is really difficult and tedious to transfer pins from one account to another. There is no automation involved. You literally have to log in as the account you want to pin TO, visit the boards you want to pin FROM, and pin, pin, pin. Then login as the original account and delete, delete, delete. It is mind-numbing stuff. But there is no other way to do it.
Secondly, it’s obviously more cumbersome to manage two Pinterest accounts, whether they are personal and/or business accounts. So consider carefully before you go too far down the road and pin 1000s of pins to one or two accounts.
That’s why both of my current Pinterest accounts are in such a state of disarray right now; moving and re-pinning between two account takes a LOT of time.
