How many of you use Pinterest? Probably most of us, right? After all, for creatives, it’s an easy way to find massive amounts of inspiration—and then quickly save that inspiration for later.
But more and more, Pinterest is becoming a place for shoppers, too. And that makes it especially helpful to artists who are trying to reach buyers with their art.
So that got me thinking.
What if there was a way to structure a group board (or several group boards) for all of us artists who read EmptyEasel? The goal would be to combine our efforts at getting our artwork out there—a sort of online, co-op portfolio for artists.
I’ve been trying to figure out how it would work exactly. There are a few pros and cons to using group boards—here’s what I’ve come up with so far:
Pros to using group boards:
1. Group boards encourage a greater number (and diversity) of pins
For artists, this can be a big plus, since it’s generally pretty hard to “make it” if you’re on your own.
Let’s say that you’re on a group board with 5 or 10 other artists. If even ONE of them happens to get followed or re-pinned by someone very influential (or if the board itself gets noticed and goes viral) this will bring exposure to you as well.
2. Members of group boards automatically see every group pin
Over time, this familiarity builds community.
Just by seeing your work on a regular basis and having the chance to share in your artistic journey, there’s a much greater chance of re-pins, likes, and shares from the artists who share the group board with you.
3. Followers of one member will be more likely to follow other members
Maybe you’re new to Pinterest, and you only have 3 followers. That’s OK! If your art adds something to a group board, and the other artists on that board have thousands of followers, you’ll benefit (and so will they!)
After all, their followers are always looking for new artwork, and they’ll be likely to follower you as well once they see that you’re contributing to a board they love.
For the other artists, your fresh artwork on their board keeps people interested, and makes it likely that their current followers won’t unsubscribe.
I’m sure there are more “pros” to using group boards, but those are the three that stick out to me the most.
Now, here are a few cons to using group boards:
1. You can’t control what other people pin
Sure, the owner of the board can remove pins (or remove contributors if necessary) but that could turn out to be a full time job.
Perhaps you’ve joined the group board because you want to showcase your art with other artwork of a similar style, subject matter, size, price, etc. But in many cases, this isn’t entirely in your control.
It’s always possible that the board you joined will change over time, and end up not being the kind of board you want to be a part of.
2. You have to share the spotlight
The more contributors there are who join the group board, the less your own pins will be seen. My guess is that there’s probably an optimal number (or an optimal ratio of pinners to followers) but I don’t know what that might be. :) I just know that a Pinterest board CAN get way too large to do much good.
It’s probably clear that I don’t know it all when it comes to group boards—so far, I’ve only joined this one with NUMA Gallery. But I think there’s a lot of potential, so I want to hear your ideas.
Do you think this could work? For those of you that already use Pinterest, would you LIKE to be a part of an EmptyEasel group board? What are your concerns? What would you expect from it?
There are no wrong answers or suggestions; I want to hear it all! Send me your comments or thoughts via our contact page, or directly to emptyeasel@gmail.com.
I’ll be writing more about this over the next few months, and hopefully starting a group Pinterest board for all of us soon, so please feel free to jump in with your ideas!
PS. Yes, if you were wondering, EmptyEasel DOES have a Pinterest page. We mostly pin art we love, and our favorite how-to articles from EE. Go ahead, follow us here. :)
This post may contain affiliate links.