Finding the Perfect Pinterest Side Hustle to Make Some Extra Money in 2024

Photo by Souvik Banerjee on Unsplash

Pinterest offers numerous opportunities to earn money, making it a valuable platform for individuals and businesses alike.

Strategies such as pinning for profits and promoting small businesses have made Pinterest a lucrative avenue for generating income.

In this guide, we will explore why Pinterest is one of the best platforms for earning money in 2024 and will provide 10 Pinterest side hustles to discover.

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links you’ll find below are affiliate links. If you make a purchase after clicking one of these links, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.

Why Pinterest Is The Perfect Side Hustle for Busy Parents

One of the biggest advantages of a Pinterest side hustle is how flexible and adaptable it is to your lifestyle.

Whether you’re a stay-at-home parent with young kids, juggling a 9-to-5, or working freelance gigs, Pinterest can seamlessly fit into your daily routine.

With approximately 518 million active users each month, Pinterest offers ample opportunities for side hustlers and businesses to showcase their products or services and attract potential customers.

Work When It’s Convenient for You

Pinterest is a hustle you can literally pick up whenever you have free time.

Unlike other side hustles that require fixed hours or in-person commitments, Pinterest can be done on your own schedule—whether it’s during your child’s nap time, early mornings, or late at night after the kids have gone to bed.

You can manage it in short bursts, meaning even if you only have 10-20 minutes at a time, you can still make progress. Plus, with tools like Canva to automate your pinning, you can set it and forget it, leaving you more time to focus on other responsibilities.

You can dip your toes in by focusing on one or two affiliate products or services, and as you get the hang of it, ramp up by creating more content, joining affiliate networks, or even selling your own products.

Unlike a traditional job or business, there’s no immediate pressure to scale. You can grow your Pinterest side hustle at your own pace and make adjustments as life changes—whether that’s adding more hours when the kids start school or pulling back during the busy holiday season.

Low Barrier to Entry = High Potential Rewards

One of my favorite aspects of starting and running a side hustle on Pinterest is you don’t need a ton of upfront cash, a business degree, or even prior experience to start making money with the platform.

All you need is an internet connection, a few free design tools, and a willingness to learn. Pinterest’s low entry barrier makes it an ideal side hustle for parents who want to maximize their income without the stress of complicated startup costs.

With the right mix of strategy, consistency, and creativity, Pinterest can turn into a reliable source of income that fits around your life—giving you more financial freedom while still being there for your family.

Let’s dive into ways to make money on Pinterest.

10 Pinterest Side Hustles:

While there are countless ways to grow your side hustle or business online, below are 10 of my favorite ways to accomplish this via Pinterest.

1. Promote a Blog or Newsletter

If you run a blog or newsletter and are looking to monetize your site, Pinterest is a goldmine. One of the top ways to make money with Pinterest is by using it to drive traffic to your website.

With its visually appealing pins, Pinterest can attract more viewers to your blog or newsletter, giving you a competitive edge.

Pinterest also provides ample opportunities to share content with individuals who are specifically interested in your niche.

By adding targeted keywords, high-quality visuals, and strategic pinning, you can increase the visibility of your pins and attract the right audience. This increased exposure can lead to higher engagement, more clicks, and ultimately, more opportunities to monetize your presence on Pinterest.

This is especially helpful if your blog is in niches including travel, fashion, or cooking. Each of these are extremely visual and work especially well on Pinterest.

But this is doable no matter what your niche is, there are pins for just about everything! I just recently started working on the Knocked-up Money Pinterest account - take a look for an example in the personal finance space.

Tapping into Pinterest has helped to grow both my blog and newsletter, and highly recommend it.

2. Drive Traffic to a YouTube Channel

Similar to promoting a blog, you can boost your YouTube channel's visibility by sharing eye-catching pins on Pinterest.

On these pins, you can directly link your pins to your YouTube videos to expand your audience reach.

When creating your pin, don’t get totally hung up on the visuals; the description is equally important. You should craft compelling descriptions and strategically use keywords to attract users interested in your content.

With a strategic plan, you can ultimately boost your video views and subscriber counts. This can enhance your YouTube monetization efforts by increasing ad revenue and opening up opportunities for sponsorships.

3. Dive into Affiliate Marketing

Another strong Pinterest side hustle is affiliate marketing. By sharing affiliate links through your pins, you can earn commissions on sales generated using your unique link.

To get started with affiliate marketing, you will first need to amass a following. While you can receive affiliate links without a strong following, you likely won’t earn any commission. However, consistent pinning and a solid keyword strategy can help you quickly grow your following on Pinterest.

I would also advise you to only join affiliate programs for products you are truly passionate about.

For example, I’m a small business consultant and one of the few tools I recommend to my clients and readers is Beehiiv, which is the best newsletter platform on the market. I recently made the switch to Beehiiv and more than doubled my subscribers in less than 60 days.

P.S. If you decide to check out Beehiiv, click my affiliate link above and get 20% off for the first 3 months of any paid plan.

One other thing to keep in mind is that it's important to maintain transparency and trust with your audience when adding affiliate links to your pins, blogs, or websites.

Clearly disclose your affiliate relationships. By doing so, you'll build a loyal following and ensure long-term success in your affiliate marketing endeavors.

4. Sell Digital Products

Digital products such as e-books, printables, courses, and design templates are in high demand and can be effectively marketed on Pinterest.

The high-quality imagery combined with persuasive and compelling copy can grab the attention of Pinterest users, encouraging them to click through to your online store or website to make a purchase.

By strategically pinning these visuals and utilizing relevant keywords and hashtags, you can drive significant traffic and increase sales.

One of the major advantages of selling digital products is their potential for passive income.

Once created, these products require minimal effort to maintain or distribute, allowing you to continue earning revenue from initial investments of time and effort.

With the right marketing strategy, your digital products can continuously attract buyers, generating a steady stream of income over time.

5. Become a Pinterest Marketing Manager

Did you know that you can actually get paid to pin on Pinterest?

Pinterest Marketing Managers do just that!

Pinterest Marketing Managers manage business accounts for bloggers, brands, influencers, and e-commerce shops, helping them grow their presence on the platform.

By optimizing pins, scheduling posts, and analyzing performance, Pinterest Marketing Managers can significantly boost a client’s visibility and engagement on Pinterest.

This role is perfect for those who love the platform and want to turn their passion into a Pinterest side hustle.

If you’re looking to start this side hustle or potentially looking to hire a Pinterest Marketing Manager, I’d recommend checking out Fiverr. I’ve worked with some amazing talent from around the world.

As a Pinterest Marketing Manager, you can enjoy flexible work hours, the opportunity to work from anywhere, and the satisfaction of helping businesses succeed while generating a steady income for yourself.

6. Get Traffic Moving Towards an E-Commerce Store

Own an e-commerce store?

Pinterest is a powerful tool for driving traffic toward your site and increasing sales.

By creating appealing pins that feature your products, you can connect directly to your audience, leading to more clicks and more sales.

Furthermore, Pinterest’s platform also allows you to provide brief descriptions of your e-commerce store and its inventory, which can give the viewer a sneak peek, making them curious for more. In these descriptions, you can add keywords and pricing information.

You can even become a Pinterest Merchant, connecting Pinterest directly to your shop and reducing the clicks your customers need to take to make a purchase.

Typically fewer clicks equal higher conversions, meaning more money in your pocket.

I’m a marketer by trade and can help you optimize your marketing traffic, turning those clicks into customers.

From digital advertising to branding and customer journey mapping, I’d love to chat and see how I can help grow your business this year. 🚀

7. Become a Pinterest Advertiser

Advertising on Pinterest can be a highly profitable Pinterest side hustle for many, especially if you already have products or services to sell.

Here’s how you can get started and monetize through Pinterest advertising:

Step 1: Create and Manage Campaigns

To advertise on Pinterest, you'll need to create a campaign through your Pinterest business account.

Campaigns allow you to define your marketing goals, whether it's increasing brand awareness, driving traffic, and more sales. You can set up and easily manage these campaigns to fit your unique criteria.

Step 2: Choose the Right Ad Type for You

Pinterest provides a range of advertising formats, such as Promoted Pins, video ads, and carousel ads. Choosing the appropriate format is crucial for attracting the attention your target audience.

For example, Promoted Pins are integrated into the home feed and search results, enabling them to blend in with organic content and facilitate user engagement seamlessly.

Essentially, by disguising your ad as something other than as an ad, you will likely get more clicks and engagement,

Step 3: Target Your Audience

With the help of Pinterest’s strategic targeting opportunities, you have the ability to reach your intended audience.

Pinterest provides the ability to target users using demographics, interests, keywords, and customer lists.

This precise targeting ensures that your advertisements are displayed to users who are most likely to have an interest in your products or services, ultimately increasing the likelihood of conversion.

Step 4: Monitor Your Campaign and Place Bids

Once your campaign is live, monitor its performance using Pinterest Analytics.

Track metrics such as impressions, clicks, and conversions to understand how your ads are performing.

Based on these insights, make necessary adjustments to your strategy to optimize your campaign for better results.

Pinterest offers the option to set a budget for your campaigns, giving you control over your spending. Depending on your objectives, you can select from various bid strategies.

Campaigns serve as the promotion for your pin and can significantly improve the rate at which your pin is seen on the main homepage.

8. Find Brands to Partner With

Brands actively seek out influencers and content creators to essentially advertise their products on Pinterest.

Once you cultivate a highly engaged audience (size helps, but engagement is more important), reach out to brands for potential partnerships.

Depending on your niche, you can make some serious money from partnerships.

There’s a snowball effect with this as well. Once you get a brand or two on board and are successful, use that to leverage additional partnerships. It’s a great way to monetize your content and go from a side hustle to a full-time gig.

A few examples of collaborative opportunities include sponsored pins (more on this #10 on the list), product evaluations, and exclusive offers.

As you continue building your presence on Pinterest, the potential for lucrative brand partnerships will increase.

9. Monetize Your Pinterest Knowledge

Pinterest side hustle number nine involves monetizing your existing knowledge.

If you deeply understand how to succeed on the platform, you can use that expertise to offer consulting services or create and sell online courses for profit.

There is great interest among businesses and individuals in learning how to utilize Pinterest effectively, so your expertise in this area is extremely valuable.

You can serve as a Pinterest strategy consultant, offering strategy and coaching services.

You can also offer analytics services, helping businesses better understand how to take action on their Pinterest performance - from optimizing pin creation to SEO techniques and analytics.

Creating online courses is another great way to monetize your Pinterest knowledge. You can develop comprehensive guides covering all aspects of Pinterest marketing, from setting up a business account to advanced techniques for driving traffic and increasing engagement.

To build credibility and attract customers, share your success stories and include testimonials from satisfied clients. Check out platforms such as Udemy and Teachable.

You can also build your own website and then use Pinterest to promote your course or service.

10. Join Sponsored Boards

Pinterest presents a great opportunity for users with popular boards to earn extra income by featuring businesses' products or services on sponsored boards.

This arrangement benefits both parties, as the businesses whose products are promoted gain exposure, and you can monetize your Pinterest presence.

To start, identify businesses in your niche that align with your brand and audience.

Reach out to them with a proposal outlining the benefits of featuring their content on your board.

Make sure to highlight your board’s engagement metrics, including follower count; average repins, and user interaction rates. This will quickly and clearly showcase the value you can offer.

Once you secure sponsored content, make sure it fits seamlessly with your board’s theme and style.

You can use Pinterest Analytics to track how well-sponsored pins are doing. This way, you can show your partners detailed reports on how their investment is paying off.

By consistently giving your audience and sponsors value, you can make good money from sponsored boards on Pinterest.

How Many Followers Before You Can Start a Pinterest Side Hustle?

While there's no magic number you need to hit to magically guarantee you’ll start making money from your Pinterest side hustle, from what research shows, 250 followers is usually a good starting metric to hit.

Another big milestone is 1,000 followers - it’s often cited as a benchmark where opportunities begin to increase.

This varies widely by niche, and it depends on what your goals are. For example, many travel and recipe blogs focus less on followers and more on strictly pin clicks, as these blogs typically generate revenue through ads, which require substantial traffic.

For other niches, such as personal finance or side hustles, a more engaged audience is key. Even with just starting out on Pinterest, I’ve been able to grow my business by driving additional traffic, subscribers, and revenue.

However, while a following may be an important piece to gaining attention, even with a smaller following, you will want to be sure you're getting your viewers engaged.

If your audience is highly engaged, it can significantly enhance your chances of earning through sponsored posts, affiliate marketing, or selling products directly.

Engagement can include liking, sharing, commenting, and reposting. Essentially, anything that shows that your viewers are enjoying the content and finding it relatable and engaging enough to share.

The bottom line is that when you are trying to monetize your Pinterest account, racking up a large following is not the only component to consider.

While some of these Pinterest side hustles may require a larger following, others rely more on consistent pinning and lots of engagement.

Engaging with your audience and being consistent with your activity often results in more followers.

Why Pinterest Could Be Your Next Best Side Hustle

If you're looking for a flexible, creative, and scalable side hustle, Pinterest offers a unique opportunity that’s hard to beat.

With minimal startup costs, easy-to-use tools, and the freedom to work whenever it fits your schedule, it’s the perfect option for busy parents looking to make extra income without sacrificing precious family time.

By focusing on creating eye-catching pins, mastering Pinterest SEO, and using automation tools, you can steadily grow your audience and income at your own pace.

Whether you’re promoting affiliate products, driving traffic to a blog, or even selling your own digital products, Pinterest gives you the platform to turn those clicks into cash.

The key to success is consistency. Stick with it, keep refining your strategy, and watch as Pinterest opens the door to financial freedom, one pin at a time.

One final thought. Don’t feel pressured to reinvent the wheel. Start small, learn as you go, and scale up when the time is right.

Start pinning with purpose, experiment with your design and strategy, and see where this creative side hustle can take you!