The customer who didn't know she was looking for you
Somewhere on Pinterest, someone is searching for help with a problem your business already solves. She just doesn't know you exist yet.
Meet Melissa
Melissa has been thinking about a side business for months. She's creative, she loves designing things in Canva, and she keeps seeing other women sell digital products online.
She's watched the YouTube videos. She's saved roughly a million Instagram posts about passive income. Every time she thinks she's figured out what to do, she finds five more things she apparently needs to learn first.
Tonight she's at the kitchen table with her laptop open. She opens Pinterest and types:
(Melissa is made up, along with the business she's about to find. You've probably met a dozen Melissas, though. Maybe you were one.)
She isn't looking for a business
Melissa isn't searching for a coach. She isn't shopping for a course. She is definitely not thinking, "I'd love to join another email list tonight."
She wants to make something and sell it. That's it.
That's what makes Pinterest so different from the other apps on her phone. People open Instagram to see what their friends are up to. They open Pinterest because they're trying to do something. They have a project, a problem, or an idea they want to bring to life.
the first search is about
making progress.
Starting the conversation too far along
I see business owners put so much effort into pins about what they sell. The new course. The shiny template bundle. Then they wonder why Pinterest isn't sending anyone.
Picture Melissa scrolling her results. One pin is for a $497 course on scaling a digital product business to six figures. Another is a tutorial for making a simple workbook in Canva.
The big course might be great. Melissa still scrolls right past it, because she hasn't made her first product yet. The tutorial meets her exactly where she is, so that's the one she taps.
The pin"Scale your digital product business"
The pin"Make your first workbook in Canva this weekend"
Who clicksPeople who are already further along
Who clicksMelissa, and everyone like her
The people worth finding are usually looking for the result your product helps with. They haven't heard of your product yet. Help them with the first step, and you've earned the chance to help with the next one.
Think about the last person who bought from you. Before she knew your business existed, what would she have typed into Pinterest?
Picture her on the couch with her phone. What's the problem, and what's she hoping for?
Melissa is about to find exactly the post she needs. And if nothing changes, she's going to lose it by tomorrow night.