How to Make Money on Pinterest: 7 Proven Ways to Earn in 2026

Yes, you can make money from Pinterest—but Pinterest doesn't pay you simply for getting views. The money comes from what happens after someone discovers and clicks your Pin.

Pinterest impression → Pin engagement → outbound click → landing page/product → conversion → income

A Pinterest user can visit your blog and generate ad revenue, purchase an affiliate product, buy something from your store, download a digital product, or hire you for a service.

Here are 7 ways, here's how the money actually flows, here's what the numbers look like, here's what Pinterest officially allows, here's which methods are realistic for beginners, and here's what I'd do starting from zero.

Does Pinterest Pay You Directly?

Pinterest primarily serves as a platform for traffic, discovery, shopping, and marketing, unlike other platforms where creators can earn money directly through views.

To earn money on Pinterest, you can either leverage the traffic it generates or get paid to manage Pinterest accounts for others. The popular monetization methods on Pinterest include affiliate marketing, selling your own products, charging for expert services, becoming a Pinterest virtual assistant, forming brand partnerships, and monetizing your blog.

The methods mentioned above are not all the same. Each one differs in terms of the complexity of getting started, setup required, and how it works. Some methods can be started with little effort or no upfront investment, while others may require more time, resources, or preparation before they start generating results.

The table below compares each option based on who it’s best suited for, the level of effort required, what you need to get started, how it works, and how quickly you may be able to generate your first income. Use this comparison to identify the method that best aligns with your skills, budget, available time, and income goals.

No.	Method	Best For	Effort Required	Setup Required	How it Works	Time To First Income
1	Affiliate Marketing	Beginners & Content Creators	Very Low	Join affiliate networks	Earn Commission	1-3 months
2	Pinterest VA	Having Pinterest Skills	Medium	Creating a Media Kit	Charge a fee for managing other Accounts	1-3 Weeks
3	Blog Monetization(Ads)	Bloggers/Content Writers	Medium	Blog Setup & Ad Network approval	Use Pins to drive traffic & Earn ad revenue	3-6 months
4	Selling Digital Products	People having specialized skills	Medium	Connect with Etsy/WooCommerce	Create e-books, templates & earn fees by selling them in your store	1-6 months
5	Coaching & Consulting	Expert in a particular area(Fitness, Business, Interior Design)	High	Need to connect with clients	Showcase your expertise & use emails to convert them into paying clients	2-10 weeks
6	Brand Partnerships	Creators with thousands of outbound clicks	High	Create a media kit	Brands pay for sponsored content	2-6 months
7	Selling Physical Products	e-commerce brands, craftsmen,drop-shippers	Very High	manufacturing, inventory & shipping	Pinterest automatically syncs inventory to create Product Pins	1-3 months

How Much Money Can You Make on Pinterest?

Many people on the internet have the question: "How much can I actually make using Pinterest?"

Frankly, there is no definite answer to this, and there is no fixed amount. You can earn anywhere from a few dollars to thousands of dollars. 

Moreover, Pinterest is not responsible for the terms that set your relationship with your clients, brands, affiliate networks, or ad networks. You have to do all this outside of Pinterest, and Pinterest doesn't have any role in setting financial terms, handling payments, or processing transactions. It is up to you which monetization method you choose based on your goals and resources.

The actual money depends on how you use Pinterest to build your portfolio, attract clients to offer services, attract brands for sponsored Pins, make sales using its shopping ecosystem, and drive people to your website to generate ad revenue, leads, and sales.

Again, which monetization path you choose depends on the following:

• What is your goal, and how do you want to achieve it?

• Selling affiliate products requires no product creation, no shipping, and zero customer support, while other methods require more time. For example, to work with brands, you actively need to pitch and negotiate. For Pinterest VA work, you need to spend significant time carrying out work for other accounts.

• Some methods, for example, e-commerce, require logistical support like inventory management and fulfillment. So, assessing logistics and associated costs is important.

• Which niche is yours, and what income opportunities are available? For example, your niche can have enough affiliate products with good commissions.

• Whether you have a website or a product. If you don't have these assets, then you can promote affiliate products directly on Pinterest, and on each sale, you can make a commission.

• Do you own a store on a platform like WooCommerce? You can connect your WooCommerce store by using the official Pinterest for WooCommerce extension. The plugin automatically uploads your entire product catalog to Pinterest and turns them into shoppable product Pins.

• If you own a website or blog, you can create Pins for your blog posts and drive traffic that you can use to generate ad revenue, affiliate sales, or sales of your own products. You can also build your own email list as an asset.

• Whether you are selling physical or digital products, both require completely different Pinterest strategies. For example, with physical products like apparel and paintings, you require high upfront capital to manufacture products, manage inventory, and fulfill orders. On the other hand, for digital products like printable planners and checklists, you require zero inventory, and they can be delivered instantly via automated downloads. Moreover, digital products have higher profit margins than physical products. For physical products, you also need to upload your catalog to Pinterest, while for digital products, you can create an inspirational Pin linking to a landing page.

The real money that you can earn actually depends on the following things:

• How many people engage with your Pins, such as saves, outbound clicks, and comments.

• What percentage of that engagement converts into sign-ups, sales, brand deals, clients for your service, and ad views.

• If your audience belongs to high-spending regions like the US or Europe, your payout per click will be much higher.

• People with high Pinterest monthly views and followers may not even earn a single dollar, while people with low numbers can earn thousands of dollars if they are driving more engagement and have correctly monetized their accounts.

• Some niches attract high-spending buyers. For example, financial or home decor brands will be ready to pay much more per click.

• If a Pin is well-liked and gets saves frequently, its distribution will widen across Pinterest. Hence, it will get more saves, and along with the long shelf life of Pins, it can continue bringing clicks for months and even years, and therefore more revenue for you.

• Some products, like software and online courses, offer much higher affiliate commissions than physical products. For example, Amazon may offer 1% commission on cheap items like groceries, vitamins, and wellness items.

• Earning from display ads depends on your blog's RPM (Revenue per thousand sessions). Some high-tier ad networks like Mediavine and Raptive offer higher RPMs than AdSense.

• Payouts from brands depend on negotiation skills, monthly Pinterest views, follower count, engagement level (save rate), and niche.

As we mentioned, real income is not directly proportional to Pinterest views and followers, but even these metrics are important. Pinterest views mean how many times your Pins were seen on the screen by users. Although it shows raw visibility, it is crucial to track whether your content is gaining momentum, whether you have successfully implemented a sound Pinterest strategy, and whether your profile is reaching more people. Therefore, it is a quick check on your profile's reach.

Followers can still be valuable because they provide an audience for your content and can act as social proof, but follower count alone does not determine how much reach or income a Pin will generate.

So, safely, we can conclude that both monthly Pinterest views and follower count are top-of-funnel metrics measuring broad exposure rather than concrete action. Pin clicks (close-ups) and saves (repins) are middle-of-funnel metrics that represent high interest shown by users, while outbound clicks, as a bottom-of-funnel metric, directly impact your revenue. Outbound clicks lead to visits to your store or website, which means they can pave the way to a new sign-up, client deal, or checkout.

The examples below show expected income based on Pinterest monthly views. Again, these data are for illustrative purposes, and the real income may be lower or higher than what is presented here.

According to industry experts and marketers, the average click-through rate lies between 0.2% and 1.5%, although it varies greatly based on the niche. For example, home decor, recipes, and DIY have high outbound click rates.

For our examples, let's assume that monthly views convert into a 0.8% outbound click rate. Here, using illustrative examples, we will show you how much you can earn from each method. 

Affiliate Marketing

Suppose you are getting 100,000 views monthly, with a 0.8% outbound click rate, a purchase conversion rate of 1%, and an average product commission of $10. Then your estimated monthly income from affiliate marketing alone will be calculated as follows:

Outbound Clicks = (Views × Outbound Click Rate) / 100

Outbound Clicks = (100,000 × 0.8) / 100

Outbound Clicks = 800

Estimated Income = Outbound Clicks × Purchase Conversion Rate × Product Commission

Estimated Income = (800 × 1 × 10) / 100

Estimated Income = $80

Display Ads

Suppose your ad network is Mediavine and your average RPM (revenue per 1,000 sessions) is $30, and your Pinterest account receives 100,000 monthly views and generates an outbound click rate of 0.8%. That gives you approximately 800 outbound clicks to your website. For this illustrative example, we'll assume these clicks result in approximately 800 website sessions.

Estimated ad revenue = (Website Sessions ÷ 1,000) × RPM

With an RPM of $30:

Estimated ad revenue = (800 ÷ 1,000) × $30

= $24

Selling Your Own Products

Suppose you sell your own products, like an e-book, through Shopify or Etsy, which you price at $50. Since you retain 100% margin, even a few purchases can earn you a high income.

In this case, your estimated income in one month from selling the e-book will be:

Estimated Income = (Outbound Clicks × Purchase Conversion Rate × Price of E-book) / 100

= (800 × 1 × 50) / 100

= $400

Brand Deals

Some creators charge per Pin or per campaign, but there is no standard Pinterest rate. Pricing depends on factors such as audience quality, engagement, niche, deliverables, and the value the creator can provide to the brand.

For example, a creator with 100,000 monthly views and 10,000 followers might charge around $100 per Pin, depending on the scope and value of the collaboration.

Why Pinterest Is a Powerful Platform for Monetization

This visual platform helps connect brands with people who are ready to buy. According to Pinterest, 80% of weekly pinners report feeling inspired by their shopping experiences on the platform. Additionally, 96% of Pinterest's top searches are unbranded, indicating that users are open to discovering new ideas and products.

People come to Pinterest for ideas, but they often end up buying things. With 640 million monthly active users, it is a place where inspiration leads to shopping. According to Pinterest reports, Gen Z is now one of the fastest-growing audiences on the platform, making up 50% of its global user base. One of the main reasons Gen Z uses Pinterest is to find inspiration and discover products to shop.

Moreover, women continue to make up a large share of Pinterest's audience, increasing demand for products in categories such as fashion, beauty, home decor, food, and lifestyle.

Unlike Instagram and TikTok, where people primarily scroll for entertainment and chat with friends, Pinterest users actively plan to buy something.

These interesting audience statistics make Pinterest an ideal platform for creators to monetize their content and build a reliable income stream.

Even if you are an introvert marketer and don't like creating videos, you can still use images, text overlays, and smart Pinterest strategies to shine on the platform.

Unlike other social media platforms, where posts often have a short lifespan, Pins can perform for months or years, allowing you to keep receiving traffic and generating income from them over the long term.

Moreover, Pinterest has improved the shopping experience and has exciting features that make shopping a breeze. This shopping ecosystem helps generate more conversions than other social media platforms; therefore, Pinterest is a strong opportunity to make money through different channels.

But before you start making good money from Pinterest or just thinking about Pinterest monetization, you’ll need to learn how Pinterest marketing works and grow your audience.

7 Ways to Make Money on Pinterest

1. How to Make Money on Pinterest With Affiliate Marketing

You don't need to own a product to earn money through Pinterest. You can promote other people's products and receive a commission when someone purchases through your affiliate link.

According to Pinterest, eligible creators can link an Amazon Storefront, tag Amazon products, and have affiliate links automatically applied to eligible tagged products.

Affiliate marketing on Pinterest is one of the easiest ways to make money on the platform, whether you have a blog or not. In fact, many creators earn more through affiliate links than through ads!

But to do well, you also need to understand the fundamentals of affiliate marketing  — and how to do it right.

Here are some quick and easy tips to get started:

Know Your Audience

Before choosing what to promote, take some time to learn about your audience.

Ask yourself:

• What do they need?

• What problems are they trying to solve?

• What kind of content do they save or click on?

Once you know your audience well, choose affiliate products that match their interests and needs.

Join Good Affiliate Programs

Pick affiliate programs that offer products or services you actually like or have used yourself. It's way easier to promote something you truly believe in.

Make Eye-Catching Pins

Use free tools like Canva and Photoshop to design beautiful pins that stand out. Attractive pins drive more engagement in terms of clicks and saves because Pinterest functions as a visual discovery platform.

Do Keyword Research

Use Pinterest’s search bar to find keywords related to your product. Add those keywords to your Pin titles, descriptions, and boards. This helps your content show up in search and reach more of the right people.

Share Affiliate Links in the Smart Way

Yes, you can add your affiliate link directly to a Pin.

But here's a better idea:

Write a helpful blog post reviewing the product, then share that post on Pinterest. It feels more natural and gives your readers more info before

they buy.

Using Product Tags for Affiliate Links

Pinterest has made it easy to turn inspirational Pins into shoppable content using its product tagging tool. The advantage is that you can create inspiring content for an audience that is just starting their customer journey. You can then add product tags to the pin, allowing users to go directly from inspiration to shopping. This enables Pinterest users to easily shop the featured products in the pin.

Using product tags for your affiliate links is an excellent way to share your affiliate products and earn money when people click and buy them.

Product tagging gives you another way to make recommended products discoverable directly from your Pin. Using product tags for affiliate products makes your Pins more shoppable and gives people a direct way to discover the products you're recommending.

You can also tag multiple affiliate products in a single Pin. For example, if you have designed a fashion-related Pin, you can tag different products like a shirt, cap, and jeans.

Amazon Storefronts on Pinterest

Eligible creators can link their Amazon Storefront to Pinterest, allowing users to discover products directly from your Pins. When creating a Pin, you can use the product tagging tool and select the Amazon filter to tag eligible products. Your affiliate tracking ID applies automatically. Once you link your Amazon Storefront, it will be showcased on your Pinterest profile.

2. Become a Pinterest VA

Did you know many brands are looking for help with their Pinterest accounts?

If you know how Pinterest works, you can become a Pinterest Virtual Assistant (VA) and help businesses that don’t have time or don’t know how to use the platform. And yes—you can get paid for it!

Offering Pinterest services is a great way to earn money online from home.

What Does a Pinterest VA Do?

Here are some tasks you might handle as a Pinterest manager:

• Help businesses grow their presence on Pinterest

• Design and create eye-catching Pins

• Schedule Pins (manually or with tools like Tailwind)

• Organize and manage boards

• Write SEO-friendly titles and descriptions

• Run and manage Pinterest ads

• Track Pin performance and give reports

You can choose your own hours and work with clients from anywhere. For many people, this becomes a steady, full-time income—all from home.

If you enjoy Pinterest and love helping others grow, this could be the perfect side hustle (or even career!) for you.

3. Monetize Your Blog With Pinterest Traffic

Pinterest is one of the best ways to drive traffic to your blog.

Moreover, you can convert that traffic into real income by selling products, offering advertising space for sponsored content, and earning revenue from ads.

With the best tips for creating viral Pins, you can increase their visibility.

Choose a niche from the top-performing categories on Pinterest that you are passionate about, and create a blog.

Begin by publishing high-quality blog posts relevant to your niche. For each blog post, include 2 to 3 vertical images in a 2:3 ratio so that you can create multiple Pins for a single blog post. Use different titles, overlay texts, and images for each Pin to diversify your content.

If you’re super busy, tools like Tailwind for Pinterest can help. It schedules your Pins to go out at the best times.

Once you have sufficient traffic, you can earn money with display ads.

Some popular ad networks that you can join are:

• Google AdSense

• Media.net

• Mediavine

  
  

But each one has different requirements:

• AdSense is the easiest to start with. No traffic limits, but your site must follow their rules.

• Media.net works best if most of your traffic is from countries like the US, UK, or Canada.

• Mediavine's Journey program is available to sites generating at least 1,000 sessions from Tier 1 countries within a 30-day period. Mediavine's main program requires $5,000+ in annual advertising revenue, along with other quality requirements.

Pinterest is awesome for sending traffic from top-earning countries, which can lead to higher ad earnings per click (CPC).

Leverage your Pinterest traffic to grow your email list. Use the best opt-in freebie ideas to maximize sign-ups.

Once people are on your list, you can promote:

• Your own products

• Affiliate products

• New blog posts

• ...and more.

4. Sell Digital Products

Don’t have a physical product to sell? No problem! You can easily create digital goods that can convert better than physical products. Shoppers on Pinterest are in active mode and want solutions fast. 

Digital products offer instant downloads, enabling users to search, purchase, and use the product within minutes.

Moreover, digital products are delivered immediately, avoiding shipping fees and saving users the time of waiting for delivery. Shoppers can start using the product as soon as they download it. Shoppers can see how the product looks and works before buying.

With digital products, you can save shipping costs and make copies at no cost. So if you are looking to earn money by selling digital products on Pinterest, here is a list of popular digital products.

You can create and sell:

• Ebooks

• Online Courses

• Canva Templates

• Printables

• Checklists

• Spreadsheets

• Wedding Planners

• Budget Planners

• Daily Planners

• Content Calendar Templates

• Grocery Lists

• ...and more!

5. Offer Coaching and Consulting Services

On Instagram and TikTok, users mostly sit back and let the algorithm feed them content. They don't have control and don't know what post is coming next. They just encounter content through accidental scrolling or passive consumption and react to whatever content lands on their screen.

So, to get the attention of these users or stop them from scrolling for 3 seconds, you have to interrupt them by using dramatic hooks, trending sounds, pointing, physical movements, and flashing text.

On Pinterest, users have high search intent and are actively looking for solutions to their problems. For example, when a user searches for "how to set up a work-from-home office," they are actively looking for an answer and are naturally driven toward your Pin, which provides the solution. You are not annoying them; rather, you are providing the resource they just asked for.

Therefore, Pinterest is a strong platform for coaches, consultants, and service providers because it lets people discover expertise for the questions they already have.

Coaches can create Pins for tutorials, guides, and educational content that address the problems users are searching for on Pinterest.

When users click to pin, you can drive them to your website, capture their emails, and then further nurture them through an email sequence. You can introduce them to your coaching or consulting service and eventually turn them into loyal customers.

Pinterest is a fantastic platform for finding ideal clients for your coaching, consulting, and other service-based businesses, opening doors to monetary opportunities.

6. Make Money Through Brand Partnerships

Pinterest is a great place for creators to team up with brands and get paid for their creative work. Whether you're making eye-catching Pins or writing engaging descriptions, Pinterest offers plenty of ways to earn money. Brands are always looking for content that helps them grow and boost their sales—and that's where you come in!

Many brands want to grow their presence on Pinterest and boost their sales. The good news? Pinterest loves fresh, creative Pins—but many businesses don’t know how to create them or devise a content strategy that works.

If you're good at designing Pins and understand how Pinterest works, you can team up with brands in your niche. You can offer them a content package that includes designing Pins, adding the brand’s products to your high-performing boards, creating blog content around their products, and providing a content planning strategy.

When creators work with brands, they can use the Paid Partnership tool to let people know about the collaboration. This tool adds a “Paid Partnership” label to the Pin. It allows creators to disclose brand collaborations directly on their Pins. You can tag one brand partner per Pin, and once the brand approves the tag, its name will appear on the Pin when it goes live.

But before you approach brands, you need to do the following things so that your profile looks more professional and you can increase your chances of landing deals with brands.

Create a Professional Profile

Your profile is the first thing someone sees when they come across your content. A business account gives you more options to make your profile look professional. It gives you access to analytics like monthly viewers, engagement, and click-through rates—helpful stats you can share with brands to show your value. You can also add a branded profile cover and claim your website.

Your profile is your resume. Prepare your profile in a way that allows brands to quickly understand who you are and what content you create.

Make sure your name, bio, and Pins give an idea at a glance of what you’re about. Also have a profile cover, a good collection of Pins, well-organized boards, and a media kit that you can share with brands via email or your website.

Build Authority in Your Niche

Many content creators want to partner with brands and promote their products to make money online using their influence on Pinterest. Brands also look for the trust you have built with your audience so that when you recommend a product, your audience believes you and is more likely to buy it. So, to compete with other creators, stand out, and earn trust, you must build authority. Brands pay you to influence their audience to buy products.

To charge more for Pins or collaborations, you need to show brands that you're an expert in your niche. That means having strong, active boards and a targeted audience that follows you for inspiration and updates.

As your authority grows, your Pins will get more saves. This helps grow your audience even more—which makes you more valuable to brands.

Start by focusing on a few topics you enjoy and know well. Create stunning Pins, build strong boards around those topics, and grow your audience. Over time, people will see you as a go-to expert in your niche.

Once you earn trust and build a loyal following, it becomes easier to promote niche-related products and get paid.

Show Your Stats

Brands also want to know about your engagement: how many people click, save, or comment on your Pins.

When talking to brands, share these stats along with monthly views and follower count via a media kit to highlight the impact you can create. They help demonstrate that your content doesn’t just generate engagement—it delivers real results.

Stay Authentic

Always stay true to your niche. Your Pins and website content should match. Avoid clickbait! People click on Pins expecting helpful content—give them what you promised.

Create Content Packages

As a Pinterest creator, you can assist brands in various ways, including:

- Designing pins

- Creating a content plan

- Conducting keyword research

- Optimizing their profile

- Crafting effective pin titles and descriptions for Pinterest SEO

- Organizing boards

- Analyzing performance results

- Scheduling content through Tailwind

In addition to the above tasks, you can provide overall management of their Pinterest account.

Where to Find Brand Deals

You can look for brand partnerships through influencer marketing platforms, creator marketplaces, and by reaching out directly to brands in your niche.

7. Sell Your Own Physical Products on Pinterest

If you have your own products or run an online store, Pinterest can help you put them in front of people actively looking for ideas and inspiration. You can also use Pinterest's shopping features to showcase your products and send potential customers to your online store.

Add Your Products to Pinterest

If you have many products, you can upload a product catalog (a CSV backend data feed file) and create Product Pins at scale. This CSV file can contain information such as Product ID, Item Group ID, Title, Description, Product URL, Image Link, Price, and Availability. Pinterest uses this information to create Product Pins for your products.

Use Product Pins

Product Pins are shoppable Pins that display product information such as price, availability, and product details. When someone clicks a Product Pin, they can be directed to the merchant's website to purchase the product.

Shopify or WooCommerce Integration

If you already have a Shopify or WooCommerce store, Pinterest also provides ways to connect your store with Pinterest, which can sync your product inventory into shoppable product pins.

Use Product Rich Pins

You can integrate Product Rich Pins that automatically sync with your site to provide the latest product-related information, such as pricing, stock availability, and other product details.

Whenever these details change on your website, the Rich Pin automatically pulls the latest data and updates it on the pin. You don’t need to manually update the details each time.

Pinterest Feature	Best For
Product Pins	Merchants selling their own products
Product Rich Pins	Merchants/sites can sync product information from the website
Product Tags	Creators/merchants can tag products in inspirational Pins
Affiliate Product Tags	Affiliates promoting products for a commission
Article Rich Pins	Bloggers/Content creators can pull article information from their website
Paid Partnership Label	Disclosing brand collaborations

Can You Make Money on Pinterest Without Followers?

Yes. You don't need a large following to start earning on Pinterest. What matters is whether your Pins reach the right people and whether those people click, buy, subscribe, or become clients.

Followers are the bread and butter for many social media platforms and are crucial for many things. They work as social proof, establish authority, attract brands for sponsored posts, early engagement from followers pushes content out to non-followers, unlock platform monetization thresholds, and boost direct sales. 

But this is not exactly the case with Pinterest. Pinterest shows content to people based on relevance and search intent rather than a chronological feed from followed accounts. The content that appears on a person’s home feed is governed by recent activity, interests, and the kind of content they have engaged with. 

Moreover, Pinterest ranks content based on quality and relevance rather than follower count, and it prioritizes content that receives more engagement, like saves and clicks.

A pin’s traction is largely governed by pin aesthetic, relevance, and search intent. Therefore, pins can still get millions of views if the pin is of high quality, uses the right keywords, and gets engagement.

Even small accounts, like 1,000 followers, can outperform larger accounts in terms of monthly views and outbound clicks.

You can start making money on Pinterest, even as a beginner.

To achieve this, focus on creating eye-catching pins and optimizing them for Pinterest SEO. Additionally, use Pinterest Trends to identify trending keywords. Consistently producing content is essential.

However, building your follower count is still highly valuable. A larger following serves as social proof for new visitors and potential brand partners. Promoted pins can also achieve a higher click-through rate if you have a good following.

How to Make Money on Pinterest Without a Blog

Yes, you can make money using Pinterest without a blog. There are many ways to do this. For example, you can promote affiliate products without a blog, work as a Pinterest VA and charge a fee for your expertise, or create a media kit and work with clients to provide services. You can also sell your own products by linking your Pins directly to third-party marketplaces like Shopify and WooCommerce. You can also sell digital products or print-on-demand products.

There are many options to earn money from Pinterest without hosting your own blog. However, if you run a blog, you can unlock more ways to make money. For example, you can drive traffic from Pinterest to your blog and monetize it in different ways.

Having a blog can improve conversion rates for your affiliate products. You can write detailed reviews that build credibility, earn trust, and enhance conversions. Moreover, you own your digital asset, and later on, if Pinterest shuts down your account, you may be in big trouble. But if you capture leads and build an email list, it can become a great asset for your business.

When you have your own blog, the content you write and publish can start ranking in SERPs if you create unique content with SEO in mind. This way, your pages can rank and drive organic traffic to your blog, which you can monetize in different ways.

As a beginner, you can explore methods to make money on Pinterest without needing a blog. Later, when you wish to expand your business, you can have your own blog.

Pinterest Monetization Tips for Beginners

Even with a small following and a smart strategy, you can shine and make money, even as a beginner.

Earning by offering services first requires you to create excellent content, show your expertise in your niche, build an audience, and then establish credibility and earn trust so that people see you as the perfect person to carry out that particular service. 

You might need to showcase studies or testimonials to your clients to convince them, but at the beginning, you likely don't have these yet. 

Moreover, your potential clients need to research you, assess your expertise, compare prices, and email you with questions. Even if you get clients, you need to work hard to meet deadlines for different clients. So, for a beginner, it can be overwhelming, time-consuming, and difficult to manage.

When it comes to harnessing traffic from Pinterest, first you need to create a blog and invest money. Then, if you plan to display ads and earn from them, you need thousands of page views to make decent money.

It is also not easy to get approved by ad networks, as they have some strict requirements. For example, they may look at whether the site is new, whether it has enough traffic, and whether it has enough content.

You can monetize an email list, but first, you need to capture leads and build the list, nurture your subscribers, and then pitch your products or services for sale. But that is also an exhaustive and time-consuming process.

The other way you can earn from your blog is by selling affiliate products, but again, it requires you to invest money and build a site, which takes time. You then need to write product reviews, earn trust, and only then can you start seeing conversions.

We have explored nearly all possible methods, but they can be overwhelming and take time to gain traction.

But as a beginner, directly promoting affiliate products on Pinterest is one of the best options. It requires zero investment and no website-building hassle. You don't need technical skills apart from Canva, where you need to design eye-catching Pins. You just need the right person to click and buy, and therefore, you can quickly start earning from direct affiliate marketing on Pinterest.

Moreover, you can tag multiple affiliate products in your inspirational Pin. When someone clicks a product, they will be taken to the merchant's shop, where they can complete the purchase.

So, if you are just starting with Pinterest to make money, you can sell affiliate products on Pinterest. You just need to create a business profile, optimize the profile, join an affiliate network, choose a product, design a Pin for it on Canva, upload the Pin on Pinterest, tag the products, add the affiliate disclosure, choose the board, and finally hit the publish button.

If you create a stunning Pin and include a product that people would love, you may start seeing conversions soon.

FAQs

Can you make money on Pinterest?

Yes, you can make money using Pinterest by blog monetization, promoting affiliate products, selling your own products, and generating leads for your business.

Can I make money on Pinterest without a blog?

Yes, you can earn money on Pinterest even without a blog. You can tag affiliate products, work as a Pinterest VA, partner with brands, or offer your own services and charge a fee.

Can I use affiliate links on Pinterest?

Yes, there are two ways to promote affiliate products on Pinterest: add your affiliate link directly to a Pin’s Destination URL, or create a product-focused Pin and tag the relevant affiliate product.

Can I sell products on Pinterest?

Yes, you can sell products using Pinterest’s shopping features, such as Product Pins, to showcase your products and direct shoppers to your online store. You can sell your own products or promote affiliate products and earn commissions.

Do you need a business account to make money on Pinterest?

No, you don’t need a business account to make money on Pinterest. However, having one gives you access to advanced features such as analytics, shopping tools, and advertising options that can help you drive sales and increase your earnings.

How much can a Pinterest VA earn?

There is no fixed amount a Pinterest VA can earn. A beginner may charge around $20 per hour, while an experienced VA may charge $50 or more. Your rates depend on your skills, experience, and the services you offer, such as Pin design, scheduling, keyword optimization, performance tracking, or full account management.

How long does it take to make money off Pinterest?

Gaining traction on Pinterest takes time; your Pins need time to be discovered and indexed. With consistent effort, you may start seeing views and clicks within two or three months by regularly creating fresh Pins with new images and text overlays while optimizing your profile, boards, Pin titles, and descriptions with relevant keywords. Once you build an audience and generate consistent traffic, you can explore different ways to monetize your content. Your results will ultimately depend on your niche, Pinterest strategy, consistency, and chosen monetization method.

Is Pinterest good for beginners?

It is great for beginners since you don’t need a large following to gain traction on Pinterest. If you create niche-focused content for a targeted audience, your content can start appearing in different areas of Pinterest. Moreover, most top searches are unbranded, so if you have new ideas and products, your content will get discovered and liked by both your audience and Pinterest.

Conclusion

As we’ve seen, there are many ways to earn money on Pinterest.

To get started, focus on creating excellent content, using the right keywords, and growing a niche audience that loves what you share. Keep pinning regularly, engage with your audience, make the most of your metrics, and use Pinterest’s monthly trend reports to find trending keywords and choose the best way to make money—whether that’s selling products, promoting affiliate links, or offering services.

Growing on Pinterest doesn’t happen overnight, but with a good plan and consistency, you’ll start to see real results.

If I were starting from zero today, I would not try all seven methods. I would choose affiliate marketing first, create Pins specifically for affiliate products, and track outbound clicks and conversions before worrying about follower count.

For most beginners, affiliate products, digital products, or Pinterest services are easier to test than building a blog and waiting for advertising revenue.