Wednesday, February 05, 2014

Looking for inspiration as a form of procastination

"After months and months of resisting I´ve gone and joined Pinterest. Now what?", I posted on my Facebook page.
The answers came fast and here are some examples:

* "All I know is that, every time I happen to stop by, I lose time. I black out. LOL!!!" Serena

* "Oh I feel another challenge is needed" Sue from Simple Strategies For Social Media Success

* "Doooooooooomed, you will now find time disappear in front of your eyes",  Sarah from Esellek

 * "It's pwitty. And also a massive time sucker", Kirsty from Kirsty Wiseman Photography

So far all these lovely ladies had taken the lighthearted funny approach. And then I read a fair warning that made me think about being careful with comparing and feelings of "not good enough".

* "Welcome to black hole of creative doom and guilt. Once you remember that all the beautiful photos and projects are done by uber professionals and recreating them doesn't go the same way on first try, then you are good. I use it instead of v bookmarks as a visual reference guide for stuff. Also (remember) that a lot of them have tried 3 times before showing any final results. 10000 hours by macklemore is a good theme tune. People expect to be experts in 10 minutes or on foray attempt", Anam Stubbington


Armed with all this I go into Pinterest with my eyes wide open and I know there are things to take into account when you log into that site:

About TIME:

Too much preparation might become a stall technique.
You´d be better off following Marie Forleo´s advice "create before consuming". 
Keep track of your time there and not on  your own work.

About PIECES

Practise, practise, practise. Enjoy the path.
Share the results. ask for advice if needed.
THEN, look for pretty things.
Pin for reference, not exact copy.

What is your relationship with Pinterest?
Share your links in the comments!

You can find me at my Pinterest account by clicking here and daily at my Facebook page here. Remember to mark me as "Get notifications" to be able to see me!

PS: talking about social media and platforms. Did you know there is a new Linky party on Wednesdays?
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8 comments:

Don Purdum said...

I'm still finding my way on Pinterest. I post at least one or maybe two pics a day with a teaser and link to my website. I repin pins I'm interested in, and in a short time I'm gaining over a hundred followers. I'm not being intentional and that's the funny part.

ourcouponchronicles said...

I LOVE Pinterest! I have found it so useful, especially when planning an event or a party. I am a Girl Scout Co-Leader in 2 troops, and I plan many activities for 4 different age levels. I think of it like a bulletin board online, where I pin reminders to, and so much more. Now it can be a total time sucker, and addicting, especially if you keep hitting that, "See More Pins," button at the bottom of the page. I have boards for crafts, vacations, recipes, holiday ideas, scrapbooking layouts, etc. It is FANTASTIC, lol! I will add you, and you can see my boards on Pinterest @ thecouponchron

Unknown said...

I love pinterest as well.

I use it for inspiration, for many things. Interior, fashion style, food photography and many more.

Only happpy feelings about it, but ye, losing time - it happens. lol

Don't have too many pins yet, but here's my boards:

http://www.pinterest.com/bysteinsdotter/

Paula - Buenos Aires said...

That is exactly the way marketers suggest you use your platforms Don. Making your blog the main hub and using the other social media to drive traffic back to it.

I¨ve read that the craft projects are awesome there Melissa. Needing so many age levels activities, Pinterest must be a great source for reference.

Good to know you have only happy feelings about it! Thanks for the link. :)

Sian said...

I have a love/hate relationship with Pinterest. Of course, the inspiration is amazing and never ending and always welcome...and yet, I think it's killing blogging and causing lots of copyright and intellectual property right angst. There are lots of repins out there where the pinners have never visited the original sources, and lots of pins which aren't properly credited. This makes me uneasy.

Ginnyh said...

I use pinterest for inspiration. Luckily I don't spend too much time there but it is fun to see all the wonderful pictures and paintings.

Tammy @ creativekkids.com said...

I forgot to leave a comment way back, so I came over to do it and saw you gave a shout out for my Google Party! You are the best! I love pinterest. I used to be on there all the time. Now that I blog, I just pin stuff I find when reading blogs or stuff I want to reference later in blogging or stuff from my parties. Or when I am doing a birthday party. So it all has a purpose now--not just going to have fun! I get so many views from Pinterest though. Try to have a pinnable picture in every post you do and pin it yourself. I have a G+ community I started where you can put down a pin every day you would like others to repin. Pinterest is so important for blogging!

Paula - Buenos Aires said...

I am still on the fence Sian. I follow people but haven´t pinned anything yet.

Ginny, the "pretty" factor is so tempting. :D

I have to look into all that info Tammy, how to make a picture pinnable and how to organize that. I think that will be my first step there. :)

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