THE POWER OF THE PLATFORM: VISUAL STORYTELLING ON SOCIAL NETWORKS 65 One article on their site, a tutorial on creating French manicures, has been pinned over 380,000 times, and that’s not even including likes or repins. You don’t necessarily need a big marketing budget to be successful on Pinterest, but you need to put some effort into thinking about how your brand relates to Pinterest users, and you need to be willing to engage with fans. Melanie Duncan is a female entrepreneur whose business is booming thanks to Pinterest. It’s hard to believe that earlier this year she didn’t even know the site existed! Melanie owns Luxury Monograms—a website specializing in mono- grammed décor and gifts. Her product range includes throw pillows, tableware, towels, shower curtains, and apparel featuring bold monograms in a variety of styles. At some point she noticed a huge spike in traffic to her site: “When I logged in to my analytics account, I was shocked to see that Pinterest had become my site’s number one traffic referral source, above Google and Facebook. But what was even more exciting was that the traffic was converting. I was getting thousands of dollars in sales and thousands of new visitors to my site each month just from others pinning my products on Pinterest. Once I realized the opportunity, I created an account for my business, and I began to develop marketing strategies for using it.” Melanie’s boards are a mix of product pictures and general décor and apparel inspiration (http://www.pinterest.com/luxurymonograms): “For example, I sell entertaining items like placemats and napkins. I know my customers are inspired by beautiful tablescapes, so I mix my offerings with large subject matter boards like tablescapes since those generate the most followers. I find that giving customers ideas for how the products can be used and styled is very powerful.” Melanie has a board called “Blissful Bedding” where her mono- grammed pillow shams are interspersed with dozens of images of beautiful beds and bedrooms. She filled the “Bridal Shower and Wedding Gift Ideas” board with products that complement her own items, and