Transcript
Michelle Lynne: Hello, everybody, welcome back. This is Designed For The Creative mind, a business podcast for creatives. I'm super excited you're here, because today I have Leah Reinert. She is a self described cinnamon roll and espresso addict, which cracked me up, she's an Enneagram five, which is the investigator, and she loves sharing what she's learned with others. Technically, she is a Pinterest marketing specialist. So welcome, Leah. I'm so, so glad you're here to share with our audience.
Leah Reinert: Thanks for having me, Michelle. I'm humbled that you asked.
Michelle Lynne: I remember seeing you on an IDS virtual meeting. It had to be back in the middle of COVID, just because everything was so virtual there. I think it really was informative and so forth. So like I said before we started recording, I needed to go dig you up and bring you from the past into the present and share you with our audience.
Leah Reinert: I'm glad you did.
Michelle Lynne: Absolutely. So let's dig in. Because I remember when I first heard of Pinterest way back in the day. I can picture where I used to sit and scroll through Pinterest and pin things to boards and so forth. I still remember it, or I did until recently as kind of like the DIY people. You know, that's where I saved my own recipes. And then Lord knows there's all the, I call them, the Pinterest moms who just like do all these fabulous crafts and bake beautiful cakes.
Leah Reinert: We don't like them do we?
Michelle Lynne: My poor kid. I'm more of an Amazon Prime mom. But how can we use it for business?
Leah Reinert: Yes, absolutely. And you know, the DIY and the recipe and the Pinterest moms are still there, but it has become so much more than that. It's really for anybody. I have clients that are dog trainers, that are interior designers, that are business coaches, that are in the pharmaceutical industry. So it really encompasses all kinds of genres and niches.
It has evolved over the years, especially the last two to three years. It's really changed. I always tell people to think of Pinterest as a visual Google. It's not a social media platform, it is a search engine. So it is your google, it is your YouTube, it's stuff like that.
People don't go there to watch a certain designer or a certain company. I mean, 90% of the searches on Pinterest are unbranded people go there to solve a problem or to be inspired or to find an idea. It has a totally different context of how it's used than social.
Michelle Lynne: You compare it to Google and YouTube. So for the audience members who don't know that YouTube is also a search engine. So technically, Google, YouTube, and Pinterest are all on the same playing field ish.
Leah Reinert: Yes. Actually Google's number one, YouTube is number two, and Pinterest is number three, as far as ranking a search engine. So yeah, you're absolutely right.
Michelle Lynne: So if I think about my husband, like if something breaks around the house, he'll go to YouTube, watch a video try to figure it out, and go from there because he can find anything. It's the same thing for Pinterest. It's just different platform. Interesting.
Leah Reinert: You know, obviously YouTube is a video platform search engine, and there is video on Pinterest as well. Pinterest is kind of like top funnel for a search engine type platform. So like if you have a question about something and you don't have time to watch a 20 minute YouTube video, you might go to Pinterest instead.
Even further up the funnel than that, let's say you have this vague idea of wanting to put a small corner little electric fireplace in our dining room. My husband doesn't know this yet, but he'll figure this out when he's listening to this podcast. I have this idea and I can see it in my head, but I can't quite place it yet.
So I might go to Pinterest and I can type in, you know, corner fireplace or fireplace and dining room or fireplace and kitchen nook or sitting room. Because I have this idea up high, and I need to somehow filter it down. It's really that place where you go when you have those keywords in your head, and you're looking for that deeper definition or thought or idea.
Michelle Lynne: So because I'm also thinking, a search that I've seen come up lately is like, how do I mix metals? How does that end up driving business to the person who has the corner fireplace in a dining room image, or me for mixing metals or anything like that? How does it get there?
Leah Reinert: Since Pinterest is so top of funnel, there's different avenues that you can go. I consider Pinterest as part of an omnipresent marketing strategy. So, you know, you can be on socials, I'm a big fan of an advocate for email marketing. My job as a Pinterest strategist is to take your content and your business and present that on Pinterest in a way that then we can funnel people to your email list or to your website or to your product.
So it really depends on what kind of business you have. I have some interior designers that are also home decor product sellers so we can do direct links to products right there on Pinterest. Pinterest is moving more eComm all the time. We can go ahead and product tag on the different types of pins.
I think I'm predicting within, hopefully this year, if not even within six months, it's going to be easier and easier and easier for people to buy right on Pinterest. So just shop right from the app. If you have any kind of home decor product or any physical product like that, that's going to be huge. And I really encourage interior designers to consider having some sort of physical product, just because it is a really good way to get people to then get into your funnel and follow you through to bigger projects.
Michelle Lynne: I love that. And I was actually just on a panel at High Point. I think we have a mutual friend, Chad from side doors, and we were talking about the rise of social commerce and what it means for interior designers. So this is just another avenue pointing towards that.
Leah Reinert: Yes, definitely. I mean, I have some clients that are pretty high end interior designers, and I'm always like, can we have a product? Can we maybe have just like one or two products?
Michelle Lynne: Can you make a pillow, please?
Leah Reinert: Please. It really is just a great way to to get people into your stratosphere. Now, that being said, even if you don't have a product, and you're like, I never want to do that, I still have clients that are strictly service based. You can still have that presence on Pinterest. I still highly recommend that you do because it's just like having a presence when somebody goes to Google and searches you.
Michelle Lynne: Let's just go back to your corner dining fireplace example. Let's just pretend I was selling that, and maybe even had an image of a project that I had done with that corner's fireplace electric. Oftentimes does that come up? And it says like YouTube, and it takes you to it, and then Pinterest and then it takes you to it before it would say ML Interiors Group on that page and take you to it.
Yes, there are integrations behind the scene that, you know, I didn't realize was ever a thing until I started doing this. But Google and Pinterest work together, the SEO works together. And so a lot of people notice a bump in their SEO when they start building up their Pinterest account.
So the technical term I use for that is Google juice.
Leah Reinert: Yeah, Google juice! That's perfect.
Michelle Lynne: So SEO is search engine optimization. That's fun, but I think Google juice is a little bit more accurate.
Leah Reinert: I might have to borrow that.
Michelle Lynne: Absolutely. Absolutely. It is not trademarked. So you're welcome to it. So Pinterest would interact with its cousin Google, and show up ahead of my website, even though I have pretty good SEO.
Leah Reinert: Yes. It won't always show up above your website, but there is that chance.
Michelle Lynne: That is awesome. Okay. So one of the things that I think about is, ah, that's just one more thing to do. If I'm already on Instagram, and I'm on Facebook, and I'm being told I should be on Tik Tok, but like this could push me over that edge.
Leah Reinert: I know. Lord, help me with the Tik Tok. I don't know.
Michelle Lynne: Girl, let me tell you, I'm not gonna be doing those little dances and like pointing to the word bubbles. Yeah, just what the what?
Leah Reinert: I know. It's not me.
Michelle Lynne: Those of you who are doing it. I'm not judging. I just can't imagine myself trying to be that cool.
Leah Reinert: Yeah, I'm with you. It's like, if you want to do it, that's great. But that's not for me.
Michelle Lynne: I would totally lose followers. They would think who in the hell does she think she is? Unfollow.
Leah Reinert: No, I totally understand. I'm in this space where I'm in the Pinterest world all day long, and then people are like, well, you need to be more active on Instagram and Facebook. And I'm like, oh, that's just one more thing.
I would put it this way. If you're already on your socials, but you also really need to be on a search engine platform. If you have a website, Google's there for you. You know, you've got your website going, and I just really feel like you should either be on YouTube or Pinterest. One of those two other search engines.
Michelle Lynne: It helps business. If you want to grow your business, you have to make these efforts. And I'm a huge advocate of outsourcing whatever you can. So if y'all who are listening have been in business long enough to outsource to somebody like Leah, or, you know, another trusted resource, do it.
Hire the professionals, just like clients hire us as interior designers. We are the professionals. Yes, I'm not going to be good at pinning shit to Pinterest the right way. You know, I just use that little button. And that's the case, but yeah, there's more to it.
Leah Reinert: And that's the thing. My goal in my business, and I always tell my clients that you almost forget that I'm here. I just take care of it for you. I'm like a ninja. I'm like a secret silent ninja that just does it for you.
Michelle Lynne: The Pinterest ninja.
Leah Reinert: I am not kidding, I have clients that will email me every six months and say, hey, I'm still alive. Thank you for taking care of me. You're doing a great job, and I'll probably talk to you in six months.
Michelle Lynne: That's awesome. So instead of Pinterest ninja, it's a Pinja.
Leah Reinert: Yes, yes. It's crazy on this online world. It's just crazy. And no kidding, it is a full-time job just to keep up with all the changes on one platform, let alone five of them.
Michelle Lynne: Amen. How did you get started in this? Did you grow up wanting to be a Pinterest ninja?
Leah Reinert: No, so this is where divine intervention has come into play. It's a crazy story. I am actually fifth generation family farmer in Iowa. We still live on our family farm, and we still farm with our family.
Michelle Lynne: Do you drive a tractor?
Leah Reinert: Oh, yeah. I can do all of that. It was crazy. Back in 2016, our house, which is the farmhouse that I actually grew up in, and my husband and I moved into it. My folks moved up the road.
Anyway, there was a leak in the attic that we didn't know about. So the attic filled up with mold and we got really sick and we didn't know it. All of a sudden we were like, I'm two hours from Mayo and Rochester and I was at Mayo like three times a week. My body was shutting down. It's like we got to figure out what's going on and finally we cracked open the attic access and in the hole inside was just covered in black mold.
Michelle Lynne: Oh my gosh. So scary.
Leah Reinert: It was really scary. I mean, at the time, our daughter was two and a half or three and she was getting pneumonia. It was really scary. So we moved out, we tried to remediate like three times, and it just was so invasive. We actually had to tear down. It was 100 year old farmhouse.
But we tore it down, and we rebuilt in the same place. And through that process of building, I mean, like I fell in love with building houses, just fell in love with it. I would build another house tomorrow, if I could.
Michelle Lynne: Oh wow, obviously, you had a good experience with your builder.
Leah Reinert: We had a wonderful experience. Yes. Wonderful experience. I fell in love with hard surfaces. So like, I may or may not have dragged my husband to every countertop warehouse in the Midwest.
Michelle Lynne: Just let's go see some more. I just want to touch one more.
Leah Reinert: Yeah, I fell in love with natural stone countertops. I just went bonkers. But anyway, through all of that, I am like, I'm gonna document everything we went through. And then through that, I realized that I could drive traffic to my website through Pinterest.
Then through that, I realized that I was kind of good at it, I understood it, and I really enjoyed it. Pretty soon people were like, well, could you do that for me? It's now a full time job. I have a couple part time gals that work for me and help me out and it's growing almost faster than I can manage it.
Michelle Lynne: Oh, I love hearing that.
Leah Reinert: Yeah, it's just one of those crazy journeys that God takes you on. And sometimes you just have to roll with it and trust him. So I wasn't a little girl going someday, I hope I can be a Pinterest marketer.
Michelle Lynne: That's really fun, though. Because you're good at it, and you get paid for it now. And that's a lot of the audience here. As designers, we've started this and we're good at it, and now we're getting paid for it.
Leah Reinert: Yeah. I get to look at beautiful home pictures and home decor all day long. I was gonna say the only person that doesn't benefit as my husband because he's a really, really good woodworker besides being a really good farmer, so I'm always like, well, I saw this today when I was working on so and so's account, what do you think?
Michelle Lynne: That's so funny. I get it. And my husband's like, okay, so we're not done. Nope, nope. Never done. Maybe we're finished for now.
My next question is for Pinterest. I guess they do buy things and especially if we're looking at it potentially being an option to buy directly from Pinterest coming soon.
Leah Reinert: Yes. So Pinterest currently is getting 480 million views a month. 90% of weekly pinners make purchase decisions on Pinterest. Yeah, I know, that's huge. Pinterest drives 3.8 times more sales than other platforms.
Michelle Lynne: Even more than Instagram shop now button?
Leah Reinert: Yep. Yep. And 40% of Pinterest users have a household income of over 100k. So a lot of times I get the question. Well, I'm a luxury designer, do I need to be on Pinterest? And my answer is I would be.
Michelle Lynne: Yeah. And I think that that's a valid point. Because any place that we can have extra eyeballs. One of the things that I've learned in a previous life, I was in sales. Gosh, that was 15 years ago. Back then people would have to see your face or interact with you or something between 4 to 6 times.
And now I've read recently, it's more like 9 to 12 times that they have to see you to be ready to consider buying from you because we're inundated with so much information. If we can be on Instagram, if we can be on Facebook, if we can be on Pinterest, if we can be on Tik Tok, YouTube, and have our own website with a blog and email.
It seems overwhelming. But if it's just one step at a time progressively, that serves the clients needs to be able to see you in a variety of different places multiple times.
Leah Reinert: And the best part about Pinterest is that it's evergreen. So the life of a post on Facebook or Instagram is like 90 minutes. And if you're lucky, it's a day. On Pinterest, it's like 7 to 9 years.
Michelle Lynne: And that's still better than a magazine spread. Like I love to see our stuff in a magazine. But I pay for it, and then it is thrown in the recycle bin two weeks later.
Leah Reinert: Yep, absolutely. I have a pin that's like four years old, and it's still driving traffic to my website. It's four years old.
Michelle Lynne: That's older than my kid.
Leah Reinert: I like that it's evergreen. I like that once you get it on the platform, it's there. That's how it goes for paid ads too, on Pinterest. If you decide to put some money behind a pin, and we call it a promoted pin or an ad, then once you put money behind it, and you run the campaign for, you know, a few weeks or a month or whatever, and you take that money away, that pin is still there. It will still most likely drive more traffic to your website than one that hasn't been promoted.
So I think that combination of doing a few paid ads, and the organic management is really the sweet sauce for it.
Michelle Lynne: Sounds like it. Yeah, that's amazing. So what would you say is the most difficult aspect of your job? What's the hardest part of being a Pinterest marketing strategist and specialist?
Leah Reinert: Yeah. I would say for me, my hardest part is not necessarily keeping up with all the changes, but implementing them. So you know, Pinterest Predicts was last month, and they came out and they're really pushing the e-comm thing.
They figured out people like to shop from Pinterest, so they're coming out with all these new features. Every client's account that I open up, they roll out features at a different pace.
So for me, it's like, I can open one client's account, and they have the new feature, and then I go two accounts down and they don't and so everybody's in a different place. So for my job, that's that's probably the toughest part.
Michelle Lynne: A checklist for everybody. This, this and this need to be implemented.
So remind me, how long have you been doing this?
Leah Reinert: Four years.
Michelle Lynne: What else is there about Pinterest that we need to leave the audience with? Other than do it.
Leah Reinert: I would say this about Pinterest, because it is a search engine platform and it has the evergreen content, but it is not a quick fix. So if you have a business that is maybe struggling, and you're like, Okay, well, I heard Leah on this podcast and Pinterest sounds great, and I'm going to jump on Pinterest.
It's not going to fix your business in a short amount of time because the search engine needs time to categorize the keywords that you've implemented and the images that are on your pin. It needs time to do that SEO and that Google juice.
Do you think like three to six months?
Yes. I always recommend people give it a good three to six months, then evaluate where you're at and look at your analytics. Pinterest has a really nice analytical component when you make your account a business account.
Michelle Lynne: But you also have to log in and look at your analytics.
Leah Reinert: Yes, you also have to do that.
Michelle Lynne: Or hire somebody like you to do that.
Leah Reinert: Right. If you're my client, every month I send you a nice little update. I go in and I I do all that for you. And then I send you a nice one to two page PDF with all the pertinent information and you can just glance over that.
Michelle Lynne: Just leave it to the Pinja. You should put on your business card.
Leah Reinert: I know. I should, I like that.
Michelle Lynne: Well, I guess last question is, what is your favorite aspect of the work, just to get to know you a little bit better,
Leah Reinert: I love the creativity of it. I, as a creative, get to make the pins. I have clients from all different niches and genres and whatnot. If you have a blog post about how to pick the right countertop for your home, my job is to take your images that you have, and then I optimize them for Pinterest.
Pinterest has a set of rules that they like you to follow, like certain sizes, certain this and that, and it's my job to try and think how your ideal client would want to view your content. Sometimes I might take an image of a kitchen, and it'll just be the image with your branding on the bottom very discreetly. Other times, I'll take that same image, and then I will add a title to it, like how to choose the right countertop for you.
Michelle Lynne: Oh, I can picture that.
Leah Reinert: So what happens is, Pinterest AI actually scans the pin itself, and it will read the text overlay and look at the image. It will say to itself and its artificial intelligence brain, okay, I see the word countertop and I see a countertop.
Then it will look at your title and your description, and it will say okay, in the title and the description of this, it says the word countertop or kitchen, or both. It will say okay, all those things coordinate together. So this would be a really good image to show to somebody that searches countertop, or kitchen countertop or kitchen island.
I get to be super creative and take your assets, your photography, and then create those images, and then do the keyword research and the SEO and marry all that together.
Michelle Lynne: Well, I'm glad you enjoy it.
Leah Reinert: It's my geek brain.
Michelle Lynne: Now what do you do if somebody is just starting off and they don't have a lot of content or assets?
Leah Reinert: That's, that's a real thing, too. We can use stock images. And because I love interior design and all of that so much, that's where that creativity part in me really comes out. I sometimes have to set a time limit for myself. Let's say you made a blog post about countertops, but maybe you didn't have an actual photo that you really were proud of.
Maybe you're like, I don't really have a photo to go with it, but I want to write this post. I can go in and I can take some stock photos and then edit them and reshape them and resize them and make them look on brand for you. So that's something else I really enjoy.
I have some clients that their design aesthetic is very glamorous. Lots of gold, lots of glitz. Then I have others that are very minimalist or eclectic. I really enjoy it because I get to work with all these different styles.
Michelle Lynne: Yes, that's the fun part of being a designer. We get to work on all these houses, you get to work on all the accounts.
Leah Reinert: Yeah, exactly. For me, that's the funnest part.
Michelle Lynne: I love that. And that makes sense because we have to keep all of our marketing brand specific.
Leah Reinert: Right. You know, I don't want to put in something that's luxury glam for a minimalist account. It's gonna be so confused.
Michelle Lynne: That is fun. Well, I could talk about this forever. And I love talking about all things business, and design related. But let's switch over now and have a little bit of fun. Not that this hasn't been fun.
The next segment, we're gonna do some rapid fire q&a so that our audience can get to know you a little bit better. So nothing's off the table. Are you ready?
Leah Reinert: Perfect. I'm ready.
Michelle Lynne: We'll start with a really hard question. What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
Leah Reinert: Mint Chocolate Chip.
Michelle Lynne: Chocolate chip or oatmeal cookie?
Leah Reinert: I'm gonna go oatmeal.
Michelle Lynne: Oh, there you go. It goes with the espresso and cinnamon rolls.
Beach or mountains?
Leah Reinert: Mountains.
Michelle Lynne: How many siblings do you have?
Leah Reinert: One.
Michelle Lynne: What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Leah Reinert: I always thought I was going to be a veterinarian because I love animals and I grew up on the farm. This is funny, too. I actually have a four year degree in animal science from Iowa State University. And now I do Pinterest marketing. So you know, that makes no sense.
Michelle Lynne: Whatever the passion holds and pays the bills. Last movie you watched?
Leah Reinert: Oh, um, was probably something with my daughter. What movie did we watch? Oh, I don't even remember.
Michelle Lynne: Yeah, it was like we're going to movie theaters a whole lot these days.
When was the last time you laughed until you almost peed yourself?
Leah Reinert: Oh, my gosh. Okay. I don't know how graphic I can be on this. But my daughter, she just turned seven, and she asked me something the other day. She goes, Mom, when will my boobies come out? Honey, when you get older, you know, it's just kind of what happens. And then she goes and then when will they go down?
Michelle Lynne: Oh, no.
Leah Reinert: I was like, Oh my gosh. And I said, well I have you to thank for that.
Michelle Lynne: Out of the mouths of babes.
Leah Reinert: Yes. I laughed pretty hard on that one.
Michelle Lynne: That is pretty funny. Having had children or getting to a certain age, peeing yourself is not that difficult. There you go. There's some TMI.
Who is your favorite superhero?
Leah Reinert: Wolverine. I'm a huge X Men nerd.
Michelle Lynne: Coffee or tea?
Leah Reinert: Iced coffee. Here in Iowa, it gets to be like 30 below in the winter and I'm still drinking iced coffee.
Michelle Lynne: Holy moly. Cream, sugar, just black, or mocha caramel?
Leah Reinert: Just black straight iced Americano.
Michelle Lynne: What genre of music do you listen to?
Leah Reinert: I honestly don't listen to a lot of music. If I do listen to music, it's like Christian music like modern Christian music. I'm just not a big music person. I'm more of a podcast listener for soundtracks. I love soundtracks. Just like the instrumental.
Michelle Lynne: Yeah, background music. That makes sense. I listen to a lot of jazz because there's no words. I was listening to like quiet Christian the other day. It was almost like they were almost lullabies. It was so calming, but then I knew the tune.
Would you say you're an introvert or an extrovert?
Leah Reinert: I'm a total introvert. I am.
Michelle Lynne: I can appreciate that completely. What's your favorite color?
Leah Reinert: I know this sounds morbid, but I love black. I just love how striking black can be.
Michelle Lynne: And there's so many different shades of it. It's beautiful. I'm with you. I've got all sorts of black around my house. I just think it looks classic and elegant.
Leah Reinert: Yeah. Sophisticated and strong.
Michelle Lynne: Yes, exactly. That's what we are. Okay, last question. If you could have dinner with anybody living or not, who's one person that you would invite?
Leah Reinert: I would really like to have dinner with Vaughn Kohler. He was the co host with Andy Frisella on the MF CEO podcast. I'm actually reading his book right now, and I'm actually doing 75 hard right now.
Michelle Lynne: I've heard of 75 hard. Was he the one that kind of developed that?
Leah Reinert: So he was the co host of the developer of that. As part of 75 hard you're supposed to read 10 pages every day. So I got Vaughns book and it's called Sacred Drive and it's so good. I highly recommend it.
It's about those of us that are super driven, and really living out your your God given purposeful life and it's just very well written and so I would love to sit down at dinner with him and just pick his brain.
Michelle Lynne: Oh, I love that. Well, Leah, thank you so much for being here.
Leah Reinert: Oh, you're so welcome. Thank you for having me.
Michelle Lynne: I know that the audience loved everything that you shared.
Leah Reinert: Oh, good. I hope it helps somebody out.
Michelle Lynne: Oh, my gosh, absolutely. So how can the audience connect with you?
Leah Reinert: Honestly, if you have a specific questions, the best way is to email me. So I would say email me at [email protected]. You can also go to www.downleahslane.com.
When you go there, you'll actually see a button for Pinterest marketing, and then a button for home inspiration and stuff. So click on the Pinterest side if you have more interest in what Pinterest. If you're interested in my services, or you have a specific question, emailing me is really the best way to get a hold of me. That's the easiest.
Michelle Lynne: And then I'm assuming we can find you on Pinterest.
Leah Reinert
Yeah, you can. It's downleahslane but like all good service providers, you neglect your own.
Michelle Lynne: I always say the cobbler's kids are the last to get the shoes and it's like my house. So don't judge you by your Pinterest.
Leah Reinert: Exactly. I mean, it's there, you know, but it's it's not what I do for my clients. I'm also on Instagram but by the time I'm done at the end of the day, I just want to be off the computer. I don't always check my Instagram every day. So if you do reach out to me there, that's fine. Just know that it might take me a day.
Michelle Lynne: Yes, I understand that completely. Well, I will make sure that your contact information is all listed in the show notes so that the audience can reference that.
And for those of you who can benefit from even more resources surrounding the business of running your interior design business, join the growing community on a Facebook private group. It's the Interior Designers Business Launchpad.
And if you just want to hop right into it and go to the paid program, you can check us out at the Interior Design Business Bakery. And all of these links can also be found on Designed For The Creative Mind.
If you're listening to the podcast on Spotify or Stitcher or Amazon or Apple or wherever you're listening to it, drop us a review. It really does help us keep relevant. So until next time, and thanks again, Leah.
Leah Reinert: Thank you. I had so much fun.
