Pinteresting Pinformation

Pinterest.com is without a doubt, the new Shiny Ball!  It's not often the average Joe gets excited when you start talking about different platforms, but when it comes to  Pinterest, everyone who is anyone seems to perk up, light up, and want to talk about their "boards" their "pins" and the projects.  The later of which, is the crux of my question today; "Have you bought anything because of Pinterest?"

Why would I ask that and what do I exactly mean?  Quite simple.  Has anything you have seen on  Pinterest made you buy the product you saw.  Has any click on any pin that takes you to the originating site caused you to purchase that exact object?  My bets are, for the most part, the answer is going to be "No."

No don't get me wrong, I like Pinterest a lot.  In fact I think it has staying power as I've talked about before, with it being so visual and so engaging because of the way they pull off the visuals.  That said though, I am beginning to develop and solidify the opinion that Pinterest is not a place where you can drive massive amounts of revenue from a business perspective.  The majority of people I know who are on Pinterest at least once a week always say the same type of thing, which usually sounds like this, "Oh, I saw the coolest thing on Pinterest the other day!  I'm going to make one this weekend!"

Even I have fallen victim to Pinterest consuming my "honey do" list.  No one is safe.  For that matter, I'm not really complaining either, as it isn't costing me as much as if I were buying the things my better half has decided we should now make directly from a business.  We are buying some supplies mind you, but at a fraction of the cost had we bought the finished good from a manufacturer.

I'm sure several people can prove me wrong and show me examples of corporations or businesses driving revenue through Pinterest, and I'm sure they are there and doing well! I just don't believe they are the majority.  I have come to the determination that Pinterest is just that, Pins to gain your Interest, and as such, they are musing more than marketing. They are providing more self-inspiration than monetary investment.

Is this bad?  Not at all, it's quite a good thing in my opinion.  It's actually quite refreshing when you think about it given the propensity for social sites to immediately "have" to drive revenue.  However, when the next person tells me how much potential Pinterest has to drive said revenue, I will more than likely remind them that it is just that, only potential... for the moment.