A lot of you might already know The Design Chaser blog, impeccably curated by a dear blogging friend of mine, Michelle Halford. Michelle has a love affair with that oh ever so cool Scandi style and has a superb eye for researching the best of design inspiration on the net and sharing it with her viewers, with loads of decorating pointers thrown in. Michelle has also just recently moved into a newly built home with her husband and two young boys and her readers have enjoyed watching her decorate the home, room by room with that minimalist Scandi style. But did you know that behind the blog is an avid pinner with quite a large following? Over 63,000 in fact! It’s without doubt that Michelle knows what people like, and I don’t know about you, but I love the idea of receiving a few Pinterest pointers from the girl herself. She has kindly answered my questions about pinning and thrown in some great tips for us.
So lets start from the beginning, when did you first start pinning?
I can’t remember the exact date, but it was some months prior to starting my blog in April 2012. I do remember quickly becoming hooked, and being really surprised at the rate my followers started growing. It definitely helped hone my aesthetic, and give me the boost I needed to launch The Design Chaser.
How long on average would you spend on Pinterest per week?
Far too much to admit, although I am spending less time on it, as my workload increases. Every week is different. Because it’s my main source of inspiration when it comes to the blog, I aim to check in everyday, usually in the evenings. When I’m at my desk working throughout the day, I’ll inevitably pin things that I see around the web, and when I get time to check in on my favourite blogs, I’ll pin from those.
Moodboard from The Design Chaser’s Pinterest Pins & Peeks series
As I write this, you have over 60,000 followers, at what point did some expediential growth take place?
People often ask me this, but the growth has actually been fairly linear, increasing steadily month on month.
Is there a particular time that you find to be the best time to pin?
Like all social media, there are specific times proven to be better for social engagement, but it’s hard to gauge when your followers are from all around the world. I’ve noticed it is a little quieter over the weekends, but that would never deter me from using it then. In fact, in addition to being an amazing tool when it comes to the blog, I find Pinterest really relaxing, so you’ll often find me on there during my downtime.
Have there been any major highlights for you?
Being named a Pinner to Follow by Huffington Post about a year ago. I had no idea that Mélanie Beauvironnois from A Cut Above the Retsy had nominated me, so when she sent me a late-night Facebook message telling me I’d been chosen, I was literally shocked. In a good way!
Any tips for budding pinners?
Follow those whose boards you love, and your feed will be a constant source of inspiration. In addition to repinning, pin from external sources such as blogs and tumblir sites, and always ensure your pins link through to a valid source. Pay attention to the layout of your boards. Put them in order of relevance to you, your business, blog etc and choose great cover images that fit with your overall aesthetic. That way when people look at your page, they can see what you’re about. Make use of the secret boards. I find them really handy for keeping pins private, such as ideas for the blog and styling clients. I also pin Images that are of vertical orientation as often as possible, as they always get more repins.
Before you go Michelle, do you mind sharing some of your favourite Pinners with us?
Of course, if you haven’t already, you can follow Michelle’s Pinterest board here and you can also connect with her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Thanks so much Michelle and have a lovely weekend everyone!
Mel xx
Moodboard from The Design Chaser’s Pinterest Pins & Peeks series
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great interview – I still enjoy Pinterset, its such an easy way to lose time but being a visual person myself…oh its so enjoyable! its a great tool for ideas, colours, visual inspiration! I love it!
I wish I had more time for it Anastasia, so many fab ideas found there. xx
Fantastic post Mel and really good tips from Michelle. I tend to just pin a couple of photos when I’ve published a new blog post but will have to start pinning more. Michelle’s boards are gorgeous!
Ohhh you’ll have to get cracking, especially with your soon to be new website. Can’t wait! M xx
You’re so right Mel – I’m follwing Michelle in Pinterest and she’s got the most FAB and impeccable taste. Thank you for sharing Michelle’s tips and tricks and for beautiful pins,
Have a great week both of you 2 lovely ladies.
btw I’m not following you on Pinterest Mel.. this is so wrong, going to find you right now:-)
Thanks Mette, have a wonderful week too xx
Great interview and great tips Michelle and Mel. I’m afraid I’m not the greatest pinner and don’t give it enough attention.
As I take all my own photographs, I should really pin more of those. I’m detremined to make changes and start pinning a little bit more.
One question.., when you pin Michelle do you tick the Twitter button?
Thank you for the inspiration x
Hi Tina! I think it’s nice to dedicate at least 2 or 3 sessions of pinning a week, I think Holly said we should be on it daily! I’ll put it to Michelle regarding the tweeting however beware that if you check the twitter option, it will tweet each pin until you uncheck it. So if you pin like mad it will really annoy the twitter crowd. I learnt the hard way, not realizing that I had it checked for a couple of weeks and lost a lot of twitter followers. So if you do it, be selective and uncheck. What do you think Michelle? xx
Hi Tina! Thanks so much your kind words :) I never tick the Twitter button (even selectively). If I was to share something from Pinterest, I would be more inclined to link through to the original source, as I do on my Facebook page. I’m not a huge user of Twitter and I should probably be more active with posting pins etc, but Mel brought up a really good point, in that a feed full of pins will only turn people away (sorry to hear that happened to you Mel). I hope that helps! Good luck with the pinning Tina! x x
Thanks for the response Michelle yes to get the validation of your work is great via Pinterest, I wish the connectivity with Twitter was better, often I try and link people I’ve featured in a post via Pinterest and the link doesn’t work on Twitter which means reposting in Twitter. Beautiful inspiring boards and blog, thanks again. Amy x
No worries Amy. I’m not a huge user of Twitter (I tend to only tweet my blog posts) so I wasn’t aware of that. Hopefully it’s something they are working on? Thanks again for your kind words and all the best with your pinning! x x
OOh I love Michele’s style and the moodboards she creates with her pins-she’s just great. Fabulous interview again Mel! xx
I agree Caroline, her moodboards are something else! x
Thanks so much Mel for having me on your beautiful blog and for the kind words. I’m honoured x x
Michelle, the pleasure is all mine. The biggest thanks for your fabulous answers and sharing some of your gorgeous moodboards with us. Have a great weekend. M xx
Really really enjoyed the interview! I was just about to go to bed, but you can guess where I’m now going instead – yes, right, Pinterest! x
I know Anu – addictive!
Ha ha.. this made me smile Anu. So glad to hear you enjoyed the interview – thank you. Make sure you get some sleep though …. before Tobias wakes up! :) x x
What a great post! I’m addicted to pinning too so it’s nice to read that it can add value to my blog as well as being fun. I found I was spending far too much time on it however. I listened to a really interesting podcast from Grace Bonney at Design Sponge who was interviewing food stylist Matt Armenderiz about blogs and pinterest. He touched on the idea that he prefers to create original images rather than pinning other peoples – I thought this was a really valid and interesting point that perhaps our time and energy could be spent better in creating. Just a thought that was worth raising – as I love pinterest and it certainly inspires my blog and work. Thanks Mel and Michelle.
Hi Amy, thanks so much for reading the interview. You’ve made a really good point, and one I perhaps should have touched on. More and more, I’m pinning images of my own styling work at home, and it’s added a whole new level of excitement to Pinterest for me. Seeing the feedback (and number of repins!) is so encouraging, and testament to the fact Pinterest is such a valuable tool, in that it tells you how your work is being received, on a global scale! Thanks again for your feedback and all the best with your blog and work.
x x Michelle
Hi Amy, I think there definitely needs to be a balance with it also but there is also so much inspiration to be drawn from it. The exercise that Holly gave us in BYW to do it a little slower with intent and write a description of what it is that we like about the image is good one, but have I done it? Also, Megan Morton suggested a internet free day to get individual creative juices flowing. Regardless, like you said it’s a powerful tool for the blog and also inspiration. xx