Start or Uplevel Your Pinterest Marketing Strategy in 2023 with Kate Ahl [Organic Growth Series] [Ep. 80]

 
 

Click play to learn how to start or uplevel your Pinterest marketing strategy:

 
 

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Here’s what to expect from this episode:

If you've ever felt frustrated with Pinterest, please know that you are not alone. But the truth is that it's still an incredible and organic way to drive new people to your email list, your podcast, and your resources. 

So today, we're continuing our series on organic podcast growth by diving into Pinterest with Kate Ahl. She's here to tell you what you need to know about using Pinterest as part of your marketing strategy in 2023. We talk about why you should continue (or start) using Pinterest, the features to focus on leveraging, and what kind of time investment to expect. She also shares some great tips for podcasters who want to use Pinterest to bring in new listeners and which metrics to pay attention to. 

I really love the way Kate describes why people often feel defeated by Pinterest compared to other platforms like Instagram and how to approach it better. Ready to meet Kate?

Meet Kate:

Kate Ahl is the owner and founder of Simple Pin Media, a Pinterest management and marketing agency. Her company has worked with over 1000 Pinterest accounts over the last 8+ years. Their goal is to help business owners understand how to leverage the platform to grow their email list, find cold leads, and make more sales. Kate is a Pinterest speaker, teacher, podcaster, and strategist.

Topics Covered:

  • Why Pinterest should be part of your 2023 marketing strategy

  • The average time investment for new Pinterest users

  • Key features to focus on leveraging

  • How Pinterest compares to other platforms

  • Tips for podcasters who want to use Pinterest to bring in new listeners

  • Which metrics to pay attention to (and which to ignore)

pinterest-marketing-strategy

Listen to the Series:

  • Sara Whittaker 0:00

    Hey there, welcome back to another episode of podcasting for educators. We are in the middle of a series that I am doing all about organic podcast growth. Today is the third episode in this series and we're diving into Pinterest and what you need to know about using it for your marketing in 2023. I know all the frustrations that lots of you have with Pinterest and I totally get it but it is still an incredible and organic way to drive new people to your email list your podcast and your resources. I'm joined by Kate all who is telling us about what we need to know about Pinterest right now. I really love the way that she describes why people often feel defeated with Pinterest compared to other platforms like Instagram, we talk about why you should continue using Pinterest the features to focus on leveraging and what kind of time investment to expect, plus tips for podcasters who want to use Pinterest to bring in new listeners and which metrics to pay attention to. Kate Hall is the owner and founder of simple pin media, a Pinterest management and marketing agency. Her company has worked with over 1000 Pinterest accounts over the last eight plus years. Their goal is to help business owners understand how to leverage the platform to grow their email list, find cold leads and make more sales. Kate is a Pinterest speaker, teacher podcaster and strategist. Let's go ahead and get to the interview. Your Podcast is a powerful tool that serves your audience and your business. But how do you manage it all bring in new listeners and convert those listeners into customers. That's what this show is all about. Welcome to podcasting for educators. I'm Sara Whitaker, classroom teacher turn podcast manager. And I'm here to help you get the most out of your show, all while making an impact on other educators. All right. Hello, Kate. Welcome to podcasting for educators. Thanks so much for being here.

    Kate Ahl 1:58

    Yeah, thanks so much for having me.

    Sara Whittaker 2:00

    I am very excited to talk with you about Pinterest today, especially as we're getting ready to start a brand new year. My listeners are the perfect kinds of people to be on Pinterest. If they aren't already, you and I kind of discussed a little bit before we hopped on I know there's a lot of frustrations around Pinterest, but it is definitely such a valuable platform to be on. So I'm really excited for us to talk about this today. So to kind of kick things off, can you let us know? Just kind of overall like why should Pinterest be a part of our 2023 marketing strategy?

    Kate Ahl 2:36

    Yeah. So one of the things I always tell people is that Pinterest is search, right? It falls in the bucket of Google and YouTube where people approach the platform with a question or they're looking for a solution to a problem. Whereas you have Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, where people are looking to get to know you, there's brand awareness, there's warming up to you. So you have to have both components in your marketing. And Pinterest is one of those things that is easier than YouTube, right? Especially if you don't love to be on video. And it's a little bit very much aligned with a Google SEO, right. Like you can use key words there search involved like, it's easier, I think, than all the other platforms. So then when we think about going into 2023, and also some things that are currently happening on Pinterest, they got a new CEO, their CEO is very ecommerce focused. Those things tell us that Pinterest is still viable, people are still using it as an active search platform. And they are still growing. And here's another thing is that I read this on the Pinterest site the other day, and I thought, yeah, they're right. When people go to a social media detox, they don't delete Pinterest, because they don't think of it as social media. So it's not the thing that's gonna get eliminated from their lives when they're in January trying to have healthy habits, but Instagram and Tiktok and Facebook might be. So it's just a really good diversification channel that you can use to still get in front of what we like to call a cold audience, people who don't know you.

    Sara Whittaker 4:05

    Yeah, that's so perfect. And I've never thought about that before. But you're absolutely right. You're not going to delete Pinterest. In fact, if you're doing something like a social media, detox Pinterest might be the place that you're going to look for some other habits to form in the new year. So that makes complete sense. And yes, I mean, same kind of thing with podcasting. A lot of people get into podcasting because they don't want to be have to show up on video. They don't want to be on YouTube. They don't want to be on Instagram stories all day every day. So I think there's a lot of connection and similarities between podcasting, and Pinterest. So even if you're somebody who maybe maybe you've never started Pinterest before, maybe you used to be pretty active on there and you've gotten a little frustrated and you've stopped. Hopefully this will be a bit of a pep talk for you as we begin the new year.

    Kate Ahl 4:55

    I'm all in on that. Let's do it. Yes. Now from like a tie. perspective what is with because I know there's been like a lot of changes and new features and things like that. So for for people who are listening who maybe haven't started Pinterest yet, or maybe they've just kind of slowed down on their like what is an average kind of time and financial investment for somebody active on Pinterest. So I would say taking the time first, the time where you're going to put your investment is really going to be on the front end building up your profile, right, if you're new to Pinterest, you're gonna have to set up a Pinterest profile, which frankly, you can do that while you're watching TV can take you probably about two hours, you can make sure that everything is keyword ID, because that goes back to people searching, making sure that this Pinterest page profile just really matches who you are and what you do, like I would know pretty quickly, it's very self explanatory, user friendly, just walk through the steps, right to get a business account. So that's about two hours on the front end. And once you set your profile up, you really don't have to mess with it. There's no changing pictures or changing words or any of that, like you would see on other platforms, then it gets into we think the most labor heavy part are the images, right? Because sometimes people really struggle with that I do, I tend to go into Canva. And I'm like, Oh my gosh, I don't know what to do. I utilize templates to speed that up. But I will tell you Pinterest images still take me probably anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes. So creating this bank of images for either the content that you do have or the products that you do have would be a good place to start. And then you can create some for future products that you know you're going to create or content you're going to write, that's probably going to take, I would set aside maybe like four or five hours a week even before you start pinning. So that even if somebody has like a Pinterest profile setup, images are going to be the thing that slows you down. Now you This is coming from the assumption that like your website is your core place of content, your core place of creation. So we don't start at creation with Pinterest, we're really just amplifying it, especially through images, right by templates make it quicker, then the second thing is going to be getting into this groove of scheduling. And a lot of people use tools like tailwind or Planoly. Because then they can add pins to the platform in like a drip format, where they could sit down on a Sunday and say I'm going to schedule out five pins a day to go to my different boards. And that might take you two hours. So it depends on what stage people are at. But I will tell you even for us where we are at a consistent stage, like our content creation is there our image creation, like we're very much seasoned Pinterest marketers. For us, it takes us anywhere from six to eight hours a month. Whereas something like an Instagram is taking us 12 To 15 to 20 hours, if not more. So it's definitely going to be less once you get into it. The other thing I want to say about that, and I think that addresses the frustration, you know, that you just talked about is that Pinterest doesn't have a lot of dopamine hits, right. And so you're not going to really feel like you're doing anything, you're gonna feel really frustrated. So in that sense, just frame up your mind that like these time investments should be made for about six to nine months, because that's how the ecosystem works over there. So timeframe in the month, eight hours, 10 hours in the beginning, and then you want to go towards six to nine months as your frame to really consistently use it.

    Sara Whittaker 8:31

    Yeah, that's That's great information. So when you go to like, sit down and you batch out your images and your scheduling, do you typically do that like a month ahead of time? Like are you scheduling for the following month, usually,

    Kate Ahl 8:43

    you know, not really, we don't tend to schedule ahead too far. And some of that is a little bit of content creation. If you can do that, that's totally fine. The trap that some people fall into is they schedule so far ahead so that they can check out of it. But that really makes then you're not really connecting with your scheduling tool to make sure one everything's going out as it should because platforms change their API, which kicks off all these other platforms to have to reconnect accounts. So we don't want anything tech happening. But then number two, there is a little bit of an element of engagement happening now on Pinterest that wasn't before with a new pin format called Idea pins. And so if you are leveraging idea pins, people can comment on those. So you do want to check your notifications for comments just to at least make sure they're not spam, I guess and like, get back to them. So you can get ahead for sure. And you can do that in a scheduling tool. Let's say you want to schedule out to five or six different boards. They're two to three weeks apart per pin. Yeah, that puts you out you know, two to three months, which is totally fine. But don't set it and forget it. Yeah,

    Sara Whittaker 9:51

    yeah. Gotta check in on things and see how they're going. Yeah, now Okay, since you just mentioned idea pins. Can we talk a little bit about like, what are Some of those key features right now that maybe are newer and that we really should be focusing on?

    Kate Ahl 10:05

    Yes, absolutely. So we have three, or we have four pin formats on Pinterest, we have what they refer to as like a standard pin. That's the pin that's been on Pinterest forever. It's vertical format. Now we have idea pins. And this was really Pinterest solution to what they saw tic tock capturing, which was the short form video keeping people on the platform. In order for them to appeal to advertisers, they needed to keep people around longer. But they're great barriers that everybody goes to Pinterest to find stuff to move off, right. Like they're primed in that way, the regular pinner. So they created these idea pins that didn't link now, they just announced two days ago, I saw that in links. Yes, exactly. Finally, the solution. But what we like about them is that they're micro content. So let's say that you have a really big blog post and you have a standard pin for it, right. And then you can take idea pins, or break that up into pieces and parts in your idea pins into different slides. And now you have two opportunities for Pinterest to show those two pin formats in search, depending on if the user likes a certain type of format. So if Suzy our regular pinner, loves idea pins, her feed is going to have more of those. But if you've never clicked on a lot, you're gonna get more standard pins. Now, the third layer is video pins. So these are just uploaded as a regular pin less than 15 to 30 seconds very short form, you could probably even repurpose a short reel that you have, as long as it's not very personal and just about you like I would have to know the context of your life to understand it. Don't add those to Pinterest, because they don't know you. Right, yeah. Then Then the fourth is a Pinterest ad. So that's if you're gonna put money behind a particular ad. That's the other format that we find on Pinterest.

    Sara Whittaker 11:54

    Awesome. So like for the video pins, like somebody who has maybe TPT products that they're promoting on there, a good video would be like, maybe the like the resource in action in a classroom are showing how to use the resource or something like that.

    Kate Ahl 12:09

    Yeah, and you can even show one of the things we've done is we have PDFs. And so we've printed them off. And we've had some video footage taken of them or some photos. You could even do like multiple static photos kind of rolling to see like inside and talk about that and don't talk about it, but like show it in text in the images. You know, like step one, step two, you can also take that and convert that into an idea pin. So it's like you have the idea. pennis separate slides, right? Yeah, but with a video, it's just all put into one. So it's really when it comes to video and these idea pins and how you're uploading, we're really still in this testing phase, because we don't know how many users are interacting with the format. That's why I say like, the foundation is always standard pins. Because you know that pinners know how to use those.

    Sara Whittaker 13:01

    Yeah, that makes total sense. Now, can you? This might be a silly question. But can you like if you post something to tick tock like a video to tick tock? Can you cross post to Pinterest?

    Kate Ahl 13:11

    Yeah, yes. And no, you have to remove the watermark. And you there is a lot. So one of the interesting things about tick tock is that it rose to fame, if you will, very similar to how Pinterest rose with the aha moments like oh my gosh, you didn't know that. Or that's such a great hack. You know, like, tick tock sign is I learned on tick tock. Yeah, well, that's how Pinterest got started. Right. And that's how it grew. So you're very much the same aha moments or hacks. So yes, repurpose. Our workflow is actually we start on Instagram, with a reel, and we download it without music or text and kind of that raw, raw, edited, if you will. And then we take and repurpose to the other platforms from their like YouTube shorts, or Pinterest or Tik Tok so that nothing has a watermark, because all the platforms are getting very protective of like, we want original content, you know, which makes sense,

    Sara Whittaker 14:08

    right? Yeah, that's a smart way to do that, though. And then do you typically like would you post that video across all platforms, like on the same day? Or do you usually kind of spread it

    Kate Ahl 14:17

    out? Drip it out? Yeah. On different days. And you know, it's also I never, we don't do a different days, because we're worried people are gonna see it in our audience, because you just don't know when it would be a miraculous for somebody in your audience on all these platforms, right? Yes. So we do it on different times. And some of that is just because of, you know, each of the platform requires different things, different ways to write the descriptions, different hashtags, or no hashtags or keywords or it just is more sometimes labor intensive that you're like, Okay, today, I'm going to do this because most have to be done natively. That's the other thing too, like there's not a scheduling tool at this point. For like idea pins. Now Pinterest is roll lean out there own that is native to the platform, I think that will be very helpful. But obviously, you have all these other platforms you're trying to serve as well.

    Sara Whittaker 15:09

    So there's all these different kinds of ways that you can pin things to Pinterest. And then the big question is like, Okay, well, where does this content come from? And I'm a big fan of starting with your podcast episodes as like your core content, and then pulling out things from the episodes to put in all of these places like Pinterest, and Instagram. Is that because you also have a podcast? Is that kind of your process as well? Do you start with your podcast?

    Kate Ahl 15:37

    We do. Yeah, our process really started with that editorial calendar of our podcast, like, how are we really going to serve people with this being our anchor what we're talking about, and then from there, we create a full blog post for we've had the podcast now for six and a half years. And so we've started to pull back on creating for years, we opted, optimized Google, that was a very, very big fan for us. And we wanted to make sure that we were ranking high. And we've really gotten to that point, right, where we can kind of pull our foot off the gas a little bit. So every blog post is at least optimized for SEO might not be as long as some of our other ones we choose, you know whether or not it's going to be long form based on what we're targeting. And then from there, we do two to three Pinterest images. And then obviously, we have an Instagram image to go along with that. And then we'll do a short form video from there, and then get as much out of it as we possibly can, and then broadcast that onto the networks. But pretty much from the beginning, Google and Pinterest have been my get go from the beginning, that we were going to use the podcast, use Google use Pinterest, and all these other ones felt more. There just changed all the time. Like, I think that I hear about Pinterest, it's changes all the time. But honestly, we stand back and look at it. The ecosystem has not changed. Whereas on Instagram, it's like, I feel like I'm seeing those videos like every other Thursday of like, now you can do this now you teed up. I'm like, Yeah, this is exhausting. Like, I have to take breaks from Instagram, whereas I don't have to take breaks from Pinterest.

    Sara Whittaker 17:14

    Yeah, yeah. I'm gearing up to take a two week break from Instagram. And I'm counting down the days. Yes, exactly. I think we all are. We're like, finally we could take a break. Oh, it's like we have an excuse to take a break. Because it's the holidays coming up. Right. Right. Yeah, but no, that makes complete sense. Like, even though there have been new features rolled out on Pinterest, the the core of it is the same and the way that it works. And the way that people find you on Pinterest is kind of all the same, right? Because is it still mainly through the keywords that are connected to Yes, pins? Okay,

    Kate Ahl 17:51

    yeah, exactly. I have a great analogy that I share with people that like, I want you to think of Pinterest is the library, Instagram is the bar. Instagram is very loud, it's very communal, it's very social people are ready to talk to you. Whereas people approach Pinterest like a library, they're searching with keywords, they're searching with phrases. And they're also wondering a little bit like I picture like the New York Public Library, and it's beautiful and people are looking through. And they're putting things in there like library big because they want to save it for later. Yeah, that quiet environment is what your ideal person is entering into. So it's really helpful as you think about how your marketing is that people are starting with a question. So when you use pin descriptions, which is the main way that Pinterest pulls keywords in for their algorithm, think about sending a text to a colleague or a friend or just really talking about your product in a particular way. So you want to just make sure that you're thinking about that. Because when I think the frustration, you know, that we talked about in the beginning for people starts with the inability to frame up how to context switch, right? Like we're so in this engagement mode. We're so getting these like hearts and likes and comments. And one of the interesting things that we have always seen is that like we look at the back end of analytics, we see this like Hustle Hustle Hustle of Instagram, which has its own hustle reason for brand awareness. And then we get to Pinterest and we see so many pieces of like traffic and eyeballs and conversions happening. That it's like apples to oranges and kind of like, why would you get rid of this, but I know that it feels frustrating, but I want people to see that. Like, it's actually not as much work as the other one over here, which is the bar and it's exhausting. And like you said we're all ready for the two week break. Like you can't do it anymore.

    Sara Whittaker 19:44

    Like I'm ready to go home. It's 11 o'clock and we play exactly. Yeah, yes. Oh my gosh. Yes. It might not be like as flashy as Instagram. But to me I mean, that's also the beautiful thing about it. Yeah. Do you use Like when you all go to do keyword research, like for your podcast episodes or for your blog posts, do you ever like start at like use Pinterest as your keyword research tool?

    Kate Ahl 20:12

    You know, we don't we use h refs, obviously for the Google piece because we're optimizing there, but we'll use so after it's published, we, you can't always assume that a Google term is going to be the same as a Pinterest term. So when you get to that point, you know, like writing your pin description, you can go to trends.pinterest.com. That's a great tool that Pinterest has for keyword search and keyword volume. Or you can simply look in the app and at the top of the search bar, put in keywords, and then it has search predictions, these are really only the two tools that we have. And I actually recommend that everybody, especially if they have not been on Pinterest for a while, use those two tools to understand what you have at your fingertips to be able to write really great descriptions. Now, I'm also going to admit that there's a lot of times where I can get real lazy on this. And I can just like, throw in something. And I think if you find yourself getting to that point, and sometimes I do, I have to stop, just take a breath and like maybe come back and revisit it later. Because what I don't want to do, and I have been guilty of this as well is just throw things out there, just to throw it out there. And that's when people come back. And they're like, well, it doesn't work. I think it's very similar. I joke that like Pinterest marketing is a little bit like diet and exercise. Like we kind of put it out there. And we're like, well, I try this diet. I didn't do it fully. But like I tried it and it didn't work. And you're like, Well, did you like weigh your food did you do they're like, no. Well, then you got the results that you were gonna get. Right, exactly. So I think that's where, like, if we're looking at 2023, it's the intentionality with Pinterest. And we find that the people who have most success with it, do pause, do spend some time with it, and then get things out on the platform the way that they want it to be. And that will results in the future in the results that you want.

    Sara Whittaker 22:07

    Yeah, that makes total sense. And everything you're saying is like exactly what I say about podcasting. I mean, you put in all of this work. And like for podcasting, what I see is it's usually the show notes for people, they record this great content, they edit it, they schedule it, and then it gets to the point of sitting down and writing show notes. And it's like, Oh, I'm just done. So I'm just not going to do it. But that's like such a crucial piece, because that's where the SEO gets tied in. And you're putting in all this work. So you might as well go to the finish line and really get as much out of it as you can. Because otherwise, it's like you're doing all of this work. You know, I don't want to say for nothing, but you're not getting as much out of it as you possibly could. Yeah, that's wisdom there. Now to kind of bring this back to this topic of podcasting. Do you have any, like kind of special tips for podcasters? Who are hoping to use Pinterest as a platform to bring in some new listeners to their show?

    Kate Ahl 23:07

    Yeah, I think one thing I will say don't do is don't link directly to a player. And this is because you don't know what your people are listening on. If you link to Apple, but somebody has Android, it's not going to like you know, you have to have for the base, it has to go to your website. So linking definitely has to be the the show notes and what you just talked about, because who knows who's going to click on it? I would say number two, we've tried the wave player piece like putting those on Pinterest as like, quote unquote, video is hit or miss right. And a little bit of that is because as you we know, a podcast listeners giving you their ears for a certain amount of time. And they're committed to that and you don't come on that cold very often. So it has to be this warm up feature that is a very much a what are they asking? That's going to lead to that solution. So for us, we approach it with saying Pinterest marketing is going to fuel our email list, which then will fuel our podcasting listener, right. So it's okay, how do I clean up Pinterest boards? How do I upload video to Pinterest, it goes to a blog post where the shownotes are maxed out, but there's a podcast there. So if they want to listen, now they get to hear the instructions for me. And now I've gained a listener. So it's a little bit of a backdoor. But when we set our strategy for Pinterest, it is just that we use Pinterest to fuel the growth of our email list, which then will fuel the growth for our podcast.

    Sara Whittaker 24:38

    Yeah, that makes complete sense. So yeah, once you can get people on your email list, then you're they're gonna see your podcast episodes and your emails. Yeah, that's a great strategy. Perfect. Now, we're on Pinterest. We're doing all the right things on there. What about looking at like your analytics on there? How often should you be doing it? What should you even be paying it? Attention to,

    Kate Ahl 25:01

    yeah, we recommend once a month, the top of the month. That's what we do for all of our clients. So we go through and we look at Pinterest analytics, Google Analytics is not as good anymore. And then if you're selling on TPT, there's no there's limited analytics that you have over there that you can access. So you want to take stock of like all three, if you have the ability to do that Pinterest analytics has gotten way better. And you can drill down to see the last 30 days and then all time, you want to look at all time because what happens on Pinterest is older pins tend to get the most traffic because of the snowball effect that's happens on Pinterest. That's just how it works. And so you were wanting to take stock of like, okay, what are people saving? What are people clicking on? impressions were hit or miss on that. Because if somebody's on their phone, and your PIN is on the right, but their eyeballs on the left, you still got an impression, but it didn't really mean a whole lot. So to

    Sara Whittaker 25:56

    just define like impression is just yeah, when you're like when somebody sees it, basically, totally,

    Kate Ahl 26:02

    yeah, they don't take action, they just see it right. And then there's this number on everybody's profile that is really confusing. It's called monthly viewer number. This number is not even something we consider with our clients. It's a vanity metric. It's really good. If you're working with like sponsored content, like we would tell food creators, you can use this or you know, for your sponsored content. But it's a very, it's a 30 day rolling average of every number that Pinterest has, in fact, they haven't been real clear on what it is. So a lot of people get caught on this number going up and down. And they get very, they're like, oh, went down. I don't even I can't even tell you what mine is. Yeah, but it can tell you how many clicks I'm getting from Pinterest, how many saves I'm getting because saves indicate future buying future, you know, going back to read the content, because they might be busy. So I might say I'm gonna save this for later that saving is the most common habit that happens on Pinterest. So we pay attention to that, to see what our save rate is what our saved number is. And then like I said, impressions, you can track that as well, just to see, and we do look at follower numbers. But it's also really important to note that followers, they're not a big deal on Pinterest, because people don't go there. Like I don't go to search your name. And to follow you because I want to follow your life. I do that over on Instagram.

    Sara Whittaker 27:27

    Yeah, no, I think it's really important. Like you've pointed out so many distinctions on each of these different platforms. And like kind of the why behind each platform. I think it's important for us to think about, like why people are using Instagram, why they're using Pinterest, because I think that can just, it can make us be a lot more intentional and how we create our content in these places. So for sure, well, I feel like we covered a lot do you is there anything else that you would like to leave us with that you feel like we haven't gotten into?

    Kate Ahl 28:00

    I feel like we covered quite a bit. But I think I'll just say this, if you've been disconnected with Pinterest, if you've been frustrated with Pinterest, or you've never used it, add the app to your phone and use it for 30 minutes before you make any decision. Because one of the things that we find is that better marketers know about a platform. I don't really I don't use tick tock at all, I don't even have it on my phone. I don't know how to market on it. I don't even I don't even want to open that door. And so for me, if I look at 2023, my social media person can choose if that's important to her or not, and she wants to lead with that. But that's not something that's important to me. So I look at the major players and say, I want Pinterest. I want Google, I want Instagram. And then I know I need to lean into LinkedIn I have for years, and I just don't. And so I I'm trying to use LinkedIn right now, in order to figure out how to do it like I'm trying to frame it up. I know how to use Instagram because I'm a personal user. Like I can't stop using it sometimes. Right? So I'm very clear of what I like and what I don't like, yes, do the same thing for Pinterest. Use it like what do you like what you don't like and search your name, search your topic, search all the things. So you can see what's out there you can see what the competition is. And I think that's a really great way to approach marketing. As opposed to if somebody says you should use Pinterest. It's amazing. Don't use Pinterest because I said it's great use Pinterest because you can clearly see how it's going to benefit the growth of your business because that allows you to grab a hold, hang on and go. I'm going to stick with this even if it feels hard in four to five months, but I see it as a really valuable tool. And over and over again. Our students that we see that do that. They reap rewards really in that six to nine month timeframe. And they're like, oh, it's working now. We're like yes, it's working and seasonality to is important as well, especially for educators, your season of when people are looking for your content is much different than a content creator. Season two as well, which that's really their time to shine is right now. Whereas educators might be January and then June and then August again, like it's a different timeframe.

    Sara Whittaker 30:20

    Yeah, I think that's really important, like thinking ahead of time of when teachers are going to be searching for back to school resources and when they're going to be searching for testing review resources. Yeah, that's a yes. Very well said. Okay, now I have just a couple of fun questions for you that I asked all of my guests and then we will talk about where people can find you after listening today. So first question is if you could interview a favorite childhood star just for fun, who would it be? You know,

    Kate Ahl 30:51

    I saw this question. So this is a little bit of a longer answer. But I was I'm firmly in the Genex like crowd, so I remember like 16 Magazine and all these other things. And the only thing I could think of which sounds so funny, and I'm sure I'm gonna think of one in my sleep was like, Corey Haim was like all over my wall because I thought it was like Corey Haim and Corey Feldman. And they were like, part of like, Goonies and all these other things. Oh, yeah, I remember thinking like, or like Jake Ryan from 16 candles. I don't know how his real name is. Yeah, I was like, Oh, the I think of crushes. Do I? Oh, good context in an interview? No,

    Sara Whittaker 31:27

    not at all. I I'm with you. When I think of interviews, that's what I think of too. Like somebody asked me. I did an Ask Me Anything episode. And somebody asked, Who would you like to interview on your podcast? And my first thought was Paul Rudd? Because he's like, my celebrity crush. I just love him so much. It would be a fun conversation. no depth to it. I just want to like, hang out with them.

    Kate Ahl 31:47

    Yeah, totally. I think Ryan Reynolds would be hilarious. Oh my gosh, so funny. Yes. Like, oh, he died. So I'll say that. Because he's got some business, too. I'm too. Oh, yeah. And I want to like pick his brain is like, Okay, you're, you're diversifying your investments. That's interesting.

    Sara Whittaker 32:03

    Yeah. Teach me your ways. Yes. Yeah. That's a great one. Okay, next up is do you have any favorite podcasts that you're listening to right now for business or for fun? You know, I

    Kate Ahl 32:14

    am a political science major. I always had plan to do teaching and things like that. So I listen to some political podcasts that are really like for like updating news and things like that. And then I was just thinking, I have some spiritual ones that I listened to. And then I have some business ones. But the other day, I started listening to a business one, and I was like, Oh, I can't I can't take it in right now. I need like something else. So I feel like I'm all over the map. But I do love how I built this is probably one of my favorites, just because I love to hear the stories of the entrepreneurs. And I go back to them in my head. Sometimes, when I think of like, if I'm in the struggle, I think of them, and then talking about their struggles. And you kind of frame up, you know, it's a 60 minute story of like, a 10 year timeline or 15 year timeline. And then you remember, like, oh, this was this moment for them where they thought they would quit, like, Oh, I'm here. Now. I know. I can understand how it feels.

    Sara Whittaker 33:12

    Yes, those inspiring stories. Yeah, that's a great one. Awesome. Now, Kate, can you tell us where people can find you online, podcast, all the all the things.

    Kate Ahl 33:24

    So with podcasts, and everyone's listening to this podcast, the simple pin podcast is where we talk all about Pinterest, so you can go there and subscribe to that. And then we just opened a shop, a little bit of it was to test out the e commerce features that Pinterest had, but obviously a little bit of it is also selling people templates, because that is my pain point. And I want to provide them with you. Yeah, it's the best simple pin shop.com. And then we have decided to break it down into niches to you know, add, there's different ones for TPT sellers, different ones for product sellers, content creators, because every, you know, market has a different needs. So we've just launched that. So simple paint shop.com.

    Sara Whittaker 34:05

    Okay, perfect. We will put that in the show notes. That sounds like such a good resource. And yes, it's like Canva it's not like it's a super hard task. But it's that thing that you just don't want to do. And that you can just, it's the rabbit hole, like you get stuck second guessing everything. And,

    Kate Ahl 34:22

    yes, two times. And then you just question it. I mean, I don't know what it is. But like, I look at designers and I'm like, You're a magical human. Like, I don't even know how your brain works.

    Sara Whittaker 34:33

    Now. Like, where did you come up with that? I've I don't know. I have to if I'm ever creating like, I can't even call it an original design. Like I have to start with a template on Canva.

    Kate Ahl 34:43

    Oh, and yeah, and I have to have everything loaded in there. Like have my fonts. Yeah, like colors like oh, yeah, drag, drop, drag, drop. And yeah. Okay. I'm good. Yeah,

    Sara Whittaker 34:52

    I know. It's tough. So luckily, there's people who excel in that and that is

    Kate Ahl 34:57

    yes, and I know these that it was all All born from like our designers creating templates and I was like we created these for clients all the time. Oh, yeah. Please just put these in ones that people can buy because I was smart. I want to use them. Yeah, really?

    Sara Whittaker 35:09

    templates have to be like one of the best resources ever for online business. Yes, totally. Well, thank you so much for coming on and sharing all this great stuff with us. It was really fun talking to

    Kate Ahl 35:20

    you. Yeah, it's great talking to you as well.

    Sara Whittaker 35:24

    Thanks so much for listening to today's episode. To keep this conversation going connect with me on Instagram at podcasting for educators. I'm always looking for an excuse to talk about podcasting. If you're looking for support and launching, managing or growing your podcast, check out my online course the podcasting for educators prep school at podcasting for educators.com/prep school. I'll see you here next time.

More about Podcasting for Educators:

Podcasting for Educators is the podcast for TpT authors and other online educators. It's a show that will help you get your podcast in front of those who need it most - teachers, counselors, literacy specialists, SLPs, parents, and more! Each week, Sara Whittaker and her guests will share top tips and actionable strategies that you will need in order to launch, manage, and grow your podcast. You’ll learn how to leverage your show to build long-lasting relationships with your audience and promote your TpT resources, courses, and memberships, all while providing valuable and accessible content!

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