How I Skyrocketed The Growth Of My Pinterest VA Business [Update]
This is a follow up story for PVA Enterprises LLC. If you're interested in reading how they got started, published over 3 years ago, check it out here.
Hello again! Remind us who you are and what business you started.
Hi! I’m Kristin. I help people grow and scale their own Pinterest management business through my education brand, Pinterest VA, and our suite of products.
I also educate business owners big and small on how to maximize their Pinterest presence.
Tell us about what you’ve been up to. Has the business been growing?
Revenue is up 11% since my last update! While that may not sound too exciting, overall expenses are significantly down. We switched from an email provider that increased our monthly cost every time our email list grew to a flat monthly rate, saving us several hundred dollars per month. We also switched from paid social marketing to organic social marketing (more on that in a minute).
We also just finished a big and exciting refresh of our program material that helps students earn more while working less. Our goal is for a new graduate from our program to earn no less than $100 per hour, and the refresh is aligned with making that goal a reality.
We’ve also focused on meeting potential students where they are when it comes to educating them on the Pinterest management industry and the programs Pinterest VA offers.
For years, we mainly offered a free workshop. Recently, we’ve added everything from a peek inside the programs to a Q&A audio library to a YouTube playlist and more. Our programs have been a huge success for students, and we want to communicate that to potential students in as many ways as possible.
What have been your biggest challenges in the last year?
Last year, I was working with a seemingly reputable Facebook ads management contractor. Despite the Facebook updates that made it more difficult to track conversions, everything was going great.
… until one day I received a panicked message from the contractor telling me she couldn’t get into my ads account. I quickly realized I couldn’t get into my ads account or my business page. At first, I couldn’t even get into my account.
Although I regained access to my account, my ads account had been taken over by ‘Carla’ who was running all sorts of crazy ads under my account. I had tens of thousands of dollars of ad charges billed to my credit card, charges I had to fight with my credit card company aggressively.
At the time of my last Starter Story update, this had just happened and I was holding out hope that my ads account access would be reinstated very soon. Unfortunately, Facebook never helped me beyond ‘we’ll look into it,’ and I never regained access to my ads account. The contractor I worked with was unable to help either.
Overnight, I lost the ability to advertise my business on a platform (actually two: Facebook and Instagram) I had utilized for years. Thankfully, this ended up being a huge blessing in disguise, something I’ll address in the next question!
A ‘bad’ thing happening to your business doesn’t mean you need to close up shop. You just have to take a breath and get creative!
What have been your biggest lessons learned in the last year?
Losing the ability to run ads on Facebook and Instagram drove home the lesson of never putting too many eggs into one basket when it comes to marketing and promotion.
I already knew this, but the experience I had was a great reminder! Luckily, I had already started to dabble in organic, video-based social marketing via TikTok and Instagram Reels. This was outside my comfort zone, but I knew it had to be done.
In a little over a year, I’ve:
- Grown Pinterest VA’s TikTok account from zero to nearly 34k followers
- Grown Pinterest VA’s Instagram account from 1.5k to over 55k followers
The Instagram growth was the biggest surprise to me since I’ve heard so many people say organic Instagram growth is dead. After finding success on TikTok, I started reposting some of my videos as Reels just to see what would happen.
I figured why not?
As it turns out, the Reels did incredibly well and helped skyrocket growth in an otherwise stagnant account.
Thanks to a solid organic strategy for TikTok and Instagram, we receive hundreds of email opt-ins per day every time we post a video. With some of our most viral content, we had multiple days of four-figure opt-ins!
This has led to a boost in sales despite an end to paid ads, plus we’ve received an additional 40+ Pinterest management leads to pass on to our students.
What’s in the plans for the upcoming year, and the next 5 years?
We’re currently working on a new lower-priced (but high-value) product and I couldn’t be more excited! It will be geared toward business owners small and large who are interested in using Pinterest for their business, but aren’t necessarily interested in starting a Pinterest management business.
Over the next five years, I see us continuing to be the market leader in the Pinterest management space by continuing to seek out new ways to reach new students. I’m also constantly evaluating what works and what doesn’t work in our program offerings and making tweaks along the way.
What’s the best thing you read in the last year?
I subscribed to several new and emerging artists’ channels on YouTube and Patreon over the past year. As a millennial, I find Gen Z’s approach to business refreshing.
As someone who entered the workforce with the ‘work harder’ and the hustle mentality, Gen Z is really good about setting boundaries and protecting their mental health. I also like to watch how they use social media for marketing their new businesses.
Advice for other entrepreneurs who might be struggling to grow their business?
Get out of your comfort zone. You won’t regret it! Being uncomfortable never feels great while it’s happening, but you will look back and thank yourself for doing something new.
Also, things will happen that are outside of your control, and that’s okay. A ‘bad’ thing happening to your business doesn’t mean you need to close up shop. You just have to take a breath and get creative!
Where can we go to learn more?
- Website
- Become a Pinterest VA: Plan, Prep, and Profit in 3 Steps (our free workshop)
- Hire a Pinterest Manager from our Pinterest Lead Finder Service (a free service we offer to other business owners)
- TikTok
If you have any questions or comments, drop a comment below!
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Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
Download the report and join our email newsletter packed with business ideas and money-making opportunities, backed by real-life case studies.
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