Pinterest is one of my favorite (and most used) social media tools. It shouldn't surprise you that I can spend hours (OMG, really?!) scrolling through boards and adding pins to my feed. As someone who spent years organizing inspiration folders on her desktop and many hours before that clipping magazines, it's become invaluable to my creative process! I may or may not boast upwards of 10k images spread over carefully curated boards... It's a problem.

I'm obviously a visually driven person and I'm also someone who's building her brand. The need to catalog inspiration and represent myself in a graphic way lead me to use Pinterest for a bunch of different purposes. All of these techniques can be used to make your business/blog better too!

+ working with clients / collaborators

One of the most important ways that I use Pinterest is by creating project-specific boards that correlate with things I'm currently working on. The introduction of the secret board earlier this year totally changed the way I was pinning! For example, right now I have four active secret boards... 2 upcoming shoot concepts that require a ton of inspo (my editorial team can add images to it too!), 1 client styling board where we can both get a sense of each others' visions & 1 board full of sources for a future blog post. The thing I love most about using Pinterest as a planning tool is, instead of explaining my vision for something, I can show the people I'm working with.

+ sharing your work

Another great use for Pinterest is as a platform for getting exposure for your work. Whether you're a blogger, a retailer or a general maker, who couldn't benefit from a few more pairs of eyes on your creations!? Since pinners are prone to repin visually appealing images (portrait style does better vs. landscape, brighter & cleaner reigns supreme, etc.) keep your target audience in mind when shooting/creating graphics.

+  creating a cohesive brand

My favorite part of my Pinterest account is that it's a visual representation of Chelsea & The City. While it's fun to pin a little fitspo, add a few easy recipes for dinner with the fam and bookmark DIYs to try, if you're using Pinterest for your business or blog I suggest sticking to a general theme. I'm careful to only pin images that illustrate the lifestyle I envision for my brand and for my readers. If you're a designer or retailer, I suggest pinning work from other designers that inspire you, color stories you're attracted to and/or ideas you'd like to explore within your brand.

p.s. Whatever you do, remember that Pinterest is a fun, innovative tool that can expand your audience quickly! Check out your most frequently repinned photos to get an idea of what your followers would like to see more of.

Check out my Pinterest adventures here!

Something dawned on me toward the end of 2013 and, though I've been hinting a little here and there, I hadn't actually decided whether I wanted to blog through the process or wait for the big reveal to say, "Surprise, look what I did!"... until now. I took a little time to think things though and after hitting a big brick wall during the beginning stages (I'm still there, thick in the dreaming/planning process) I realized that a little accountability and a few friendly faces may just be the kick I need to get things going. I love this little blog of mine! It's such a fun space for me to work on everyday and I think it's growing in such an organic and meaningful way. Instead of collecting a huge number of readers that I have no connection to, I'm making lasting friendships with some truly talented creators. It's taboo to talk about in our little world of blogging but I feel like I can do more, be more. How great would it be to turn this labor of love into something that I can do long term?

Recently all of these random interests I've been exploring for so long (design, art, lettering, paper, product curating...) just came together in an a-ha moment and it struck me. Why not open a little shop? I have this love for beautiful things, a background in retail and the desire to share those things with the people that I adore. At this point it's mostly a dream but I've got to start somewhere and sharing the idea just might be that first step!

Most of my 101 in 1001 goals were secretly geared toward the venture (calligraphy lessons to explore the possibility of creating my own art prints, getting through the business-y elements of opening a shop like applying for licenses, etc) and I'm hoping that working through them will help me figure things out a little more. I would love for it to be a space that includes a mixture of original work and things from brands that have my personal seal of approval but I'm open to anything at this point. I'm just excited to see where the process takes me!

I would love your input! What do you think about this goal of mine (I almost called it a "little" dream but it's anything but)? Have you done something similar? Do you have any advice?

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