Once upon a time, or just about a year ago, Pinterest allowed affiliate links. 

Well, tons of people create affiliate only accounts and Pinterest decided to disallow their users to use affiliate links. Now, Pinterest has toughened up their security parameters, and we are once again allowed to use affiliate links. **cue the harlem shake**

So what's the benefit?

The idea is that now you do not have to link back to a landing page in order to capture the sale. This was by far my most disliked task. Now, all you have to do is link directly to the product or service using your affiliate links. And BAM, let the Pinterest magicians do their work!

Without getting all spammy, here are some ways you can get the most out of your affiliate links with Pinterest. 

1. If you have affiliates, give your affiliates pinnable images (yes, more than 1) with their appropriate affiliate link and a keyword rich description for each pin. 
    
2. If you are promoting physical products, create Pinterest images for each product (or your most popular) and link back to the affiliate product page.
    
3. Sell lots of items on Amazon? UPDATE: Amazon does not allow their products on Pinterest. Here is what they have told me, " I am sorry but we currently accept only Facebook.com "Fan Pages," "Verified" Twitter.com pages, a YouTube "channel," or Twitch.tv pages in the Associates program. All other social network sites are not eligible to add Associate links, or for use to create an Associates Account."
    
4. Do you use E junkie, ShareASale, and other affiliate platforms? Create Pinterest images to your top products or Amazon Store. DON'T FORGET to add *affiliate* in the description for all products. Always check the terms to be safe.
    
5. Create a secret Pinterest board for your affiliates. Fill the board with your products and services and allow them to repin from the board and edit the link with their affiliate link. 
    
6. Create a product only board(s) filled with your favorite tools, equipment, products, and services. Don't forget to replace the link with your affiliate link.
   • For example, favorite video equipment, best products for mompreneurs, top tools for social media mavens, etc. 

This is a great opportunity to really test the powers of Pinterest marketing coupled with affiliate marketing. With the right tags, description, and pinning power, you can most certainly increase your affiliate exposure.

By the way, my friend Summer Tannhauser from The Lady Boss League has a phenomenal free 5-day Pinterest Power course that will change your Pinterest strategy, for sure. In 5 days, you will see the Power (pun intended) Pinterest can have on your overall blogging & business efforts. Give it a shot and let me know what an impact it had!