Using Idea Pins to Grow Your Teacher Business with Emilee Vales

Kirsten 0:00

So let's say you have an anchor piece of content, what I consider like my anchor content would be my blog, or a lot of people like if you have a podcast where you're basically sharing long form content. And then what I do is I create a lot of my Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook content around what I'm sharing on the blog that week, as well as whatever I'm sharing in my emails. And so where are usually I'm creating my video content is typically on Tik Tok first, or you could on Instagram. But once you're creating that video content, like I said, you can say that without the watermark and basically repurpose that for Pinterest. So it's kind of changing your mindset a little bit and thinking about okay, when I'm going to create on Tiktok and Instagram, what is going to resonate on these different platforms. And like I said the trends and some of the fun stuff still has its place. I kind of think I've changed my mindset a little bit about like, Okay, what could I create on Tik Tok that I can also share on Pinterest, and Instagram.

You're listening to the creative teacher podcast, a show for busy teachers looking for ways to engage, inspire and make an impact in their teacher businesses. I'm Kiersten, a teacher business owner who is all about simple and actionable tips, strategies and resources that result in wins, big or small. If you're looking for that extra spark of creativity, you've come to the right place. Let's dive in together.

Hey there TPT seller friends. I am really excited for this episode because we have another special guest Emily Valles is on here with us. She is a Pinterest guru knows a ton of things about driving traffic from Pinterest to your TPT store. And I know I'm sure you all are aware that you know Pinterest has been frustrating to say the least what we know about Pinterest or what we've been doing that works with the static pins and all of that is just not cutting it. It's not working as well as we have used or maybe are used to seeing. But here we are going to talk about something that is trending on Pinterest. We always love to stay current and relevant. I'm a big proponent of that. So Emily's going to be talking about I dia pins, she's gonna go into the ins and outs of IDEA pins and how we can utilize this new feature Pinterest has to our advantage. So this is a really great episode to tune into. Let's go ahead and listen in.

All right, so we have Emily Valles. Welcome to the creative teacher podcast.

Emilee 4:01

Hey, yeah, thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to chat today. Yes.

Kirsten 4:06

So first off, go ahead and talk to us about yourself and any teaching experience

Emilee 4:12

opped teaching in the fall of: 2017

Kirsten 6:53

I'm on the same, I guess wavelength as you as far as like, I want to go back. But like, you know, I guess they kind they do have some part time stuff. But as far as going back full time, I don't know if it would be in my family's interest to go back either. It's just, there's so many different things at play happening with our family right now. So I still

Emilee 7:14

miss teaching all the time. But I think that through working with teachers, it's in a weird way filled that little void, I still feel like connected to education in the classroom. So anyways, fast forward and I took a course to start my freelance business. And after a year of social media management, I pivoted to Pinterest. So that's what I've been doing for the past. Let's see, it'll be will that be four years this summer, but really, I've only niched down to Pinterest the past three years, but

Kirsten 7:49

and that's going to be the topic of today's conversation. So that'll be fun. So you kind of already mentioned a little bit but about it. But go ahead and talk about your journey as a teacher printer. I know you were working at some point part time or considering it. And ultimately you decided that staying at home with your family would be the best interest. So talk to us about how you got into being a teacher printer, and VA.

Emilee 8:16

really nice. So that fall of: 2017

Kirsten 9:29

exactly Yeah, it's nice to have something other than just like motherhood and duties with that, that go with that. It's like having your own little thing. I almost like I don't know, I'm just wanting to say creative outlet as well. But at the same time, it's like, you know, you're helping others.

Emilee 9:47

t. And that was the summer of: 2019

Kirsten: 11:42

awesome. Yeah, that's a really cool journey. And it's always good to be able to find your niche. And to really get focused into something not only that you're good at but that you enjoy. And I know for I guess many TPT sellers out there, Pinterest is not the best, you know, of friends with them with all of the algorithm changes and all of what they're focusing on right now. Which is exactly why I wanted to bring you on so that you kind of talk to those new changes to our listeners. So the topic today we're going into is idea pins. And I'm really excited about this, because I don't really know that much about it. Other than like, I posted a couple of IDEA pins, but I have, I had no idea what I was doing. So I'm sure other people are in the same boat. But just go ahead and talk to us about what is an idea pin?

Emilee: 12:34

Yeah, so idea. Pins are the newest pin format that Pinterest has released. And I say newest, but it's been around for a little while now. So I believe it was the summer of 2020 with the very beginning phases of rolling that out in beta. And then winter of 2021 was when I started seeing most of my clients start to have access to that specific pin format. And the thing that can be frustrating is Pinterest when they roll out a feature. And I guess it's kind of similar to other platforms as well, because I remember people on Instagram saying that they got the link feature or the sticker, you know, and I'm like, it took me a little while to get that. And so you know how platforms are. So for a while a lot of people didn't have the option to create an idea pin. But when I started seeing them rolled out really across all of my clients accounts, there's two things. So you either had, you know, added to your account, basically, or you could request access to them. So weird. I had one client who she does, she's been a TPT seller for years, she does very well. And she's been on Pinterest for a long time. And I requested access for her so many times. And it took us multiple months to get them. So he's in the US because the other thing is, is they weren't rolled out across like basically like worldwide to, you know, all countries. So they were really but I would say across the US, almost all accounts had them. So they're these multi page pins back to that. And you can share static images. So what we're kind of used to with our standard pins, or you can also share video, or a combination of the two. So you could have like, one page be a video then the next page be a standard image. And they were first called Story pins. And I think that this confused people because the format is actually different. The dimensions are a little bit different than your typical pin. It's still vertical content, but with them they almost look like how you would click through an Instagram story. That's not how Pinterest intended them to be used where you can share kind of a little bit of your life a little bit of randomness. I mean all I'll share memes, whatever. And so I think that last spring, Pinterest basically renamed them idea pins because I think there was that confusion about what do I use them for. So like I said, there are these multi page pins, you cannot link them. So you can't drive traffic to your website or your TPT store directly. So they don't have that ability. And you really need to be sharing a fully conceptualized idea. So when somebody watches your idea pin, they're like, oh, I can go take action now. Whereas a lot of times with a standard pin or video pin, you're almost kind of teasing people in a way where you're like, giving them like the top 10 Must try classroom management tips. Or, you know, you're trying to entice people to click through to your website, idea pin. Pinterest wants the pinner to feel like okay, I can go and take action after I watched this idea, pin. So I think what business owners were feeling frustrated about is, it was confusing, like, how is this serving me if they're not going to my website? So yeah, they did roll out the ability to tag products, and affiliates. Okay. So with that said, though, you could not tag your TPT products. So I think it was teachers that was a little bit hard. However, I've actually gone back and forth. I love Kay all in the people at simple pin and like, well, like bounce ideas off of each other. But I was talking to them simple pin, because I wish I could say I knew everything there is to know. But I was on Pinterest, and I saw somebody tagged their TPT product and an idea pin and I'm like, Yes. And so then I started playing around with it. And this is there is something that's important to note, some TPT sellers also have their products on Etsy, Etsy, that's no problem to tag your product. So then in a way, you kind of feel like, it's not the direct link. But if people click on it, they can go there and go to that product. Right. But anyways, I've been playing around with it a little bit. And sometimes I'm able to tag a TBD product and sometimes I'm not it's it's kind of glitchy so.

Kirsten: 17:18

Hopefully that'll be you know, in the next year, it'll be the kinks will be worked out.

Emilee: 17:22

Yes. Yeah. So like, like I said, there's in even with like I'm on I'm pretty active on Tik Tok. I've had people tell me that they're in the US. And they still don't have idea pins. So like you said, I think that there's, there's clearly some kinks that need to be worked out. But they are working on it. And I think that that in a, in a small way, kind of satisfies business owners that you can at least tag your products in your affiliates. But one thing I want to mention about idea pins is they are really good for boosting engagement and building your following. Those things tell the Pinterest algorithm that you're sharing high quality content, and they should be distributing your content more widely. So even if you're not directing people to a product, it's okay to still share ideas and inspiration. I think it's a little bit hard sometimes to justify how much time they take when you know, they're not going directly to your website. But it's kind of one of those things of unfortunately, kind of playing the game of the platform. So that

Kirsten: 18:24

kind of I know, we're all probably used to Okay, well, I just have to put up a picture and then it just I link it and it goes directly to where I need it to go. But I guess you know, things change with platforms like just like it did with Instagram launching reels. So we kind of have, like you said, we have to just kind of, you know, play the game. And you know, see how it helps us that way. Could you kind of go into more of more what changes? I guess you know why static pins may not be working as well. What are those updates at Pinterest what they're making regarding on their platform? Yeah,

Emilee: 19:03

so I've watched Pinterest has had different basically like webinars to kind of keep people up to date on the changes that are making what they're doing to basically they understand that people are running a business here. And if there's not an exchange of money, you know, you're not making money. And so I understand that people need to be able to monetize Pinterest. And so I think it was I can't remember if it was the creators Festival, and it was a different webinar they hosted but basically it was really exciting. They were talking about how they're working on making Pinterest more of a full funnel platform. Because I think that in the past, people were used to, you know, going to Pinterest for free ideas and inspiration. I will say though, like all of my clients with being TPT sellers. I think that I've not seen them struggle with monetizing their Pinterest traffic but Pinterest is actually working on making it more shoppable. So that people can actually even check out directly on Pinterest. Now, that has not been rolled out widely yet, but that's something that will be in beta as well. But with that said, I do still find that obviously standard pins and video pins of the standard or just the normal pins were all used to then video pins, they definitely still need to be a part of your strategy. But Pinterest has basically said that idea pins are still being favored for distribution, just because they're that newest pin format. So I think that's why sometimes people and I've had some of my clients be like, How did my pin get like 30 impressions. And you're like, cool, you know, it's frustrating. And I think if you're looking right after it's published, the thing about Pinterest is, the half life of the content can be as long as like four months. But a lot of my clients have legacy pins, where it might be a pin, a standard pin from three or four years ago, and it still brings them traffic year over year. And it's like their top performing pin. So I think that even if you're seeing maybe, in the moment, not the greatest stats from your standard pins, I think it's important to diversify your content to still create the standard, the video, but I do think that idea pins are really not optional. And one thing I saw with my account, personally, was I had an obviously everybody's opinion of viral is is different, based off of how much you know, you're used to seeing with your own content. For me, it was what was more viral. And when I saw that with the idea pin, I didn't just see impressions or monthly views go up those more vanity metrics. When I had that idea pin perform really well, my outbound clicks, so clicks to my website also went way up that month. So I saw a correlation. And obviously, it couldn't have been directly attributed to that idea pin because it nothing was tagged or linked because I couldn't. So I think that's important to note too. So then it's like, okay, because I had that pin performed well as then Pinterest, also more widely distributing my standard and my video. So I've seen that with my other clients too, though, that when they we started creating idea pins. It wasn't just the vanity metrics, but also their outbound clicks and also saves because you can save idea pins, all of those numbers went up, though. So yeah, I would say that idea pins are not getting like the insane reach that they were when they were first rolled out. So I think that if you are if you start creating them, don't think that they're gonna like instantly go viral. Because I've definitely seen them kind of plateau a little bit with like, they're I think they're still the most widely distributed pin, but not as crazy as they once were. If that makes sense. Yeah, that's good to know.

Kirsten: 23:02

So tell us some tips and best practices in creating idea pins and using it in general. Yeah, so

Emilee: 23:12

like I said, definitely share fully conceptualized ideas. So when somebody watches it, they can feel like okay, I can go and take this idea and apply it in my classroom or in my reading groups, or whatever. And definitely use video content. So short form video, just really, in my opinion, idea pins are Pinterest way of keeping up with what people are kind of devouring in terms of content right now. So obviously, Instagram has reels. YouTube has YouTube shorts, I'm not a YouTuber, but I think that's what they're called. But I know it's short form video, and so, and even Facebook now with having reels on their platform, so definitely utilize video, that's what I'm seeing performed the best. And I would definitely test different things. You can try video content mixed in with still images. I usually do see just video perform the best. But I think it's always good to test and see what resonates the most with your audience because there's obviously even within education, there's lots of different niches within it, whether you be a school counselor or an SLP, whatever. And with that short form video, you can even test so I've tested with my clients removing the watermark from tic toc and repurposing tic tock videos. I have shared that like whether you are actually demonstrating like how to or DIY or tutorial and you're not actually showing your face also tested video content where you're talking directly to the camera. Because I think that idea pins it's a different way for people to connect with with Pinterest content creators in a way that they never have before, and then engaging about when you see somebody's face. And so I think that it might be out of the realm of some people's comfort, but I think that Instagram reels are kind of have already been pushing people out of their comfort zone. So hopefully,

Kirsten: 25:19

yeah, so and I was, I was going to ask about like, is it okay to repurpose reels or tick tock videos that you've already created about a resource or something like that, and use that in your pin? So,

Emilee: 25:33

absolutely, and I would say, a couple things that people have asked me about. So you can also repurpose reels to you can download your reel without the Instagram watermark as well. I would definitely say as far as best practices, make sure you remove the watermark. I think that all platforms are kind of picky about not wanting to see like a big tick tock watermark or an Instagram watermark. But think about strategically repurposing and not just taking any video content you're creating, because there are nuances with each platform and Tik Tok, there's an also Instagram, they have a lot of trends, and sometimes there's voiceovers, and it's just humorous. Or it's content that honestly won't resonate on Pinterest, you have to think about what does your audience click on? What are they interested on on Pinterest? Because it is a little bit of a different mindset. For sure. So like I said, How to Choose tips, DIYs tutorials, even guides. A lot of that will do well on Pinterest, but like I said, if it's like something that's funny, or just like a trend or voiceover sometimes those don't resonate as well. I've even tried repurposing some of my like dancing ones where I'm still sharing tips. do very well, really. Yeah. Sometimes I think too, it's for sometimes I think it's always it's not always easy to figure out the rhyme or reason, always why certain content takes off. But so I haven't shared a lot of dancing stuff. But it definitely Pinterest is just it's a different platform. So and also be mindful, too that people have asked me about copyright because Pinterest has way less features as far as music. So I've had one of them I repurposed and I honestly just it was for my account. It was not a client's, but I wasn't even thinking about it. And it had, I was talking but I had music in the background. And Pinterest removed my audio. And I think probably for copyright issues. Yeah, I would say be careful about what you're repurposing in, in the audio, because, like I said, Pinterest has a lot less, I guess features with that music when you're playing around, which kind of stinks in a way because I would say Instagram and Tiktok have a lot of the same audio where you can find it, you know the same so that you don't have to worry about that. But yeah, one thing to definitely think about oh, and this is another huge tip for creating idea pins. Definitely create them on your Pinterest app on your phone with no pain. But when you create them on the app, Pinterest actually tells creators to do that, because that's how you're going to be able to tag your products, add music, add stickers, add text, you can edit the duration, like you can on Tik Tok or Instagram. You just have way more features than if you're doing it on the desktop.

Kirsten: 28:37

So use your app Pinterest app to make your idea pins. Yes, definitely. Nice. Thank you for those tips. So let's see how can teach your business owners in general integrate their idea pins into their Pinterest strategy. So you kind of already talked about it. But like, let's say you know, they are on Instagram and Facebook and email, how can they integrate what they're already doing? And use that for Pinterest? Yeah, so

Emilee: 29:09

kind of like not reinventing the wheel right? I think this would be really relatable for teachers, but and it's kind of what I do for my business. But I also see this with my clients as well. So let's say you have an anchor piece of content, what I consider like my anchor content would be my blog, or a lot of people like if you have a podcast where you're basically sharing long form content. And then what I do is I create a lot of my Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook content around what I'm sharing on the blog that week, as well as whatever I'm sharing in my emails. And so where are usually I'm creating my video content is typically on Tik Tok first, or you could on Instagram, but once you're creating that video content, like I said, you can See, but without the watermark, and basically repurpose that for Pinterest. So it's kind of changing your mindset a little bit, and thinking about, Okay. When I'm going to create on Tiktok, and Instagram, what is going to resonate on these different platforms? And like I said, the trends and some of the fun stuff still has its place. I kind of think I've changed my mindset a little bit about like, Okay, what could I create on tick tock that I could also share on Pinterest, and Instagram. And like I said, not every piece of content is going to work that way. But I've kind of changed my mindset. So then I'm not reinventing the wheel. And I have this tick tock video I've created that has basically taken what I'm sharing on my blog, whether that be like, three ways to improve your Pinterest traffic, if you're seeing a dip, then I'm basically putting that into a tutorial. And then I can share that on Pinterest. So it's kind of I've changed my approach a little bit when I'm creating content, if that makes sense. Yeah, it does definitely have saved me some time then. So that I don't have to create something so unique for every platform, that that can serve you as well. But I think that a lot of times, too, you also need to think about like, what can be streamlined as much as possible. Because that

Kirsten: 31:22

just it just makes it easier for you. And it takes less time, especially when you're able to kind of merge, it also was good with having brand consistency in general. So just kind of like making some things, you know, similar but tailoring it to the specific platform. So

Emilee: 31:40

we kind of talked about two, I think the one thing that I do tell people to when I'm sharing different tips and stuff is just making sure that when you are sharing it to the different platforms, I'm sure most people know this by now. But just making sure that it's optimized. So when I'm creating that idea, pens, I have the video content, but then I'm still utilizing the Pinterest features like the stickers, the ability to tag things. And then I'm making sure this is very important that I have an SEO, you know, keyword rich title. And then I'm also giving a really great description. And what I mean by description is, there's different there's three different options where you can have a list, ingredients or notes. And so it's not like your typical description on Pinterest. So where I tell people to leave their basically pin description for an idea pin is within the notes section. And then you can include lots of characters. So you could include, you know, if I'm writing like a description, that's like 500 Plus characters, and those really important keywords that I would want to be ranking for, for that idea pin. Right. Oh,

Kirsten: 32:48

that makes sense. Thank you for that. So do you have any? So let's say there's listeners out there, they are listening to this. And they're like, I actually want to try this idea pin strategy. Do you have any ideas to help listeners create their first or next idea pen?

Emilee: 33:07

Yeah, so I would say, like I mentioned, think about maybe taking something that you've already created, and just start testing. And like I said, whether you have something where you're demonstrating like a tutorial, or maybe you even create one where you're like talking directly to the camera, but I would say take some content that you've already created and try testing it on Pinterest and seeing how it resonates with your audience. And a lot of times too, I think about what has performed well on other platforms that I think would also perform well on Pinterest, like I said, one of my best performing idea pins. It was basically like a 62nd tutorial on how to get started on Pinterest. And it did really well on tick tock. And so I repurposed it for Pinterest. And it did really well there as well. So maybe looking at what has already performed well on other platforms that you think is checking some of those boxes of yes, it's educational. Yes, it's sharing a fully conceptual conceptual idea. And one thing too, is definitely test. It's okay, obviously, to share products, and those things that you're trying to monetize. But also definitely test the free just ideas and inspiration and tips. So with the products, I would say, if you have any engaging videos where maybe it's even just hands but you're showing how the product is used or created, I think resonates a lot more with people and hooks them in more than just sharing like flatlays of products, right? You know, product covers anything like that. So, just something to keep in mind too.

Kirsten: 34:58

Those are really great ideas. I think that would definitely get some brains gearing with some ideas for what they want to create next. So thank you for that.

Emilee: 35:07

Yeah, I hope that was helpful.

Kirsten: 35:09

So I know you do have a couple of things to share with other teacher printers about how they can, you know, really dive in more into Pinterest and idea pins. So where can we learn more information about Pinterest from you? Yeah,

Emilee: 35:25

so people can check out my website. That's Emily valles.com. And then I'm very active on Instagram. My handle is at Emily dot Valles. And then I'm on Tik Tok to which is just Emily bales. So pretty simple across those platforms, I would say I'm probably the most active on Instagram and Tiktok. But Instagram, if you want to send me a direct message if you have questions, but I do have an idea pin starter kit too. So it's basically a mini course. And it teaches you about the strategy, the creation, implementation, and then also how to analyze your idea pins, because your stats are different than your standard or video pins. So it kind of gives you a good overview of not only how to create them, but analyze them and then kind of use that to have better performance basically, with your idea pens in the future. So I have that mini course or whatever. But if you just want to ask me questions, feel free people can feel free to send me a message on Instagram. I love helping people. And so I'm happy to share that way too. Awesome. Thank you so much for being here. Yes. Thank you so much for having me. I had fun. And I hope it was helpful to your audience. Tell I'm kind of long winded. So hopefully it's no great information. So

Kirsten: 36:43

I think they'll get a lot of great stuff from you. Okay, good.

Emilee: 36:46

Well, thank you so much. I've had fun talking to you. Yes. Same to you. Okay, well,

Kirsten: 36:53

I am so blown away by the tips Emily shared, I you know, a lot of them I of course, I am not the best at keeping up with Pinterest. And this has inspired me to actually give it a shot with these idea pins. So my creative action tip for you is to just soak in the tips that she has try one of those strategies that Emily is sharing and see what happens it doesn't hurt from my very, very limited experience with IDEA pins like I've tried one. I did notice it does get a lot of traffic. So I know it is worthwhile looking into and trying at least for one or two of your resources. So there's no right or wrong way to get started. It's just getting started is the big one. All right, guys. Well, thank you for tuning in. I hope to see you guys again next week.

Thanks for tuning in to the creative teacher podcast. If you enjoyed listening to today's episode, feel free to subscribe and leave a review. I'd love to hear your feedback. You can also find me on Instagram at the southern teach. I cannot wait for you to join me in the next episode for more tips and inspiration. Have an amazing day.