10 Pinterest Side Hustle Ideas to Make Money in 2026
Photo by Souvik Banerjee on Unsplash
Pinterest has over 518 million monthly users — and unlike Instagram or TikTok, content stays relevant for months or even years after you post it. That makes it one of the most underrated platforms for building a side income around your existing life.
I recently started the Knocked-Up Money Pinterest account and it's already helping drive traffic to both this blog and my newsletter. If I can do it in the personal finance space, it works in just about any niche.
Below, I’ll dive into 10 ways to turn Pinterest into a real income stream in 2026.
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.
Here's a quick overview of all 10 Pinterest side hustles before we dive into the details:
10 Pinterest Side Hustles: At a Glance
Updated March 2026. All can be started with zero upfront cost.
| # | Side Hustle | Best For | Earning Method | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Promote a Blog or Newsletter | Bloggers and writers with existing content | Drive traffic → ads, affiliates, subscriptions | Easy |
| 2 | Drive Traffic to YouTube | YouTubers wanting more views | More views → ad revenue, sponsorships | Easy |
| 3 | Affiliate Marketing | Anyone willing to build a following | Commission per sale via affiliate links | Moderate |
| 4 | Sell Digital Products | Creators with e-books, printables, or templates | Direct sales — passive income potential | Moderate |
| 5 | Pinterest Marketing Manager | People who love Pinterest and want client work | Monthly retainer from business clients | Moderate |
| 6 | Drive Traffic to E-Commerce | Online store owners wanting more sales | More store traffic → product sales | Easy |
| 7 | Pinterest Advertising | Business owners with products or services to sell | Paid ad campaigns → direct conversions | Moderate – High |
| 8 | Brand Partnerships | Creators with an engaged niche audience | Sponsored content fees from brands | High |
| 9 | Monetize Your Pinterest Knowledge | Pinterest power users with proven results | Consulting fees or online course sales | High |
| 10 | Join Sponsored Boards | Creators with popular, engaged boards | Fees from brands featuring products on your board | High |
*Difficulty ratings are relative to starting from scratch. Most Pinterest side hustles take 3-6 months of consistent effort before generating meaningful income.
Why Pinterest Is The Perfect Side Hustle for Busy Parents
Pinterest is one of the few platforms where content keeps working long after you post it. Unlike Instagram or TikTok where posts disappear in hours, a well-optimized pin can drive traffic and sales for months or even years. That evergreen quality makes it perfect for busy parents who can't post every day.
Getting started costs nothing. You need an internet connection, a free Canva account for designing pins, and a Pinterest business account — also free. There's no inventory, no storefront, and no complicated tech setup. You can work on it during nap time, after bedtime, or in 15-minute windows throughout the day.
The 10 side hustles below range from beginner-friendly (affiliate marketing, promoting a blog) to more advanced (brand partnerships, consulting). Start with one that matches where you are right now and build from there.
Related articles to side hustles:
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!
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.
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 Pinterest Followers Do You Need to Make Money?
The honest answer is: fewer than you think.
250 followers is a reasonable starting point — enough to test what resonates and begin building engagement. 1,000 followers is often cited as the benchmark where real monetization opportunities start to open up, including brand outreach and affiliate conversions.
But follower count is only one piece of the puzzle. Here's what actually matters more:
| Followers | What Opens Up | Best Monetization at This Stage |
|---|---|---|
| 0 – 250 | Building your foundation | Blog/YouTube traffic, affiliate links in pins |
| 250 – 1,000 | Engagement starts to compound | Affiliate marketing, digital product sales |
| 1,000 – 5,000 | Brand partnership inquiries begin | Sponsored pins, Pinterest management clients |
| 5,000+ | Serious monetization potential | All 10 hustles on this list are viable |
The most important thing to remember (especially if you're just starting out like I am with the Knocked-Up Money account) is that engagement beats follower count every time. A highly engaged audience of 500 people will outperform a passive audience of 5,000 for affiliate conversions, brand deals, and product sales.
Consistency is what moves the needle. Pin regularly, use keywords in your descriptions, and focus on creating content that solves a real problem for your audience. The followers and income will follow.
Frequently Asked Questions About Pinterest Side Hustles
Can you really make money on Pinterest?
Yes — Pinterest is a legitimate platform for generating income, but it works differently than most social media. Rather than going viral, Pinterest works like a search engine where well-optimized pins continue driving traffic and sales for months or years after posting.
Most successful Pinterest side hustlers use it to drive traffic to a blog, newsletter, or online store rather than monetizing Pinterest directly.
How long does it take to make money on Pinterest?
Most people start seeing meaningful results within 3 to 6 months of consistent pinning. Pinterest rewards consistency and keyword optimization over time — unlike Instagram or TikTok where growth can happen overnight but also disappears quickly.
The good news is that once your pins gain traction they keep working without additional effort.
How many followers do you need to make money on Pinterest?
You can start earning with as few as 250 followers, especially through affiliate marketing or driving traffic to a blog or newsletter.
Most brand partnership and sponsored content opportunities open up around 1,000 followers.
That said follower count matters less than engagement — a highly engaged audience of 500 will outperform a passive audience of 5,000 for most monetization methods.
Is Pinterest good for affiliate marketing?
Yes — Pinterest is one of the best platforms for affiliate marketing because pins have a much longer lifespan than posts on other platforms.
A pin linking to an affiliate product can drive conversions for months.
The key is building a following first, using strong keywords in your pin descriptions, and only promoting products you genuinely believe in. Always disclose affiliate relationships clearly.
Do you need a blog to make money on Pinterest?
No — but having a blog or website significantly increases your earning potential.
Without one you are limited to direct affiliate links in pins and brand partnerships. With a blog you can layer in ad revenue, email list growth, digital product sales, and more. Several of the 10 side hustles in this article work without a blog, but the highest-earning ones tend to use Pinterest as a traffic driver to an existing platform.
What is the easiest Pinterest side hustle to start?
Affiliate marketing and promoting an existing blog or newsletter are the easiest entry points.
Both require zero upfront investment — just a Pinterest business account, a Canva account for designing pins, and consistent posting.
If you already have a blog or newsletter, using Pinterest to drive traffic to it is the fastest way to see results since you already have content to promote.
How much can you earn from a Pinterest side hustle?
Earnings vary widely depending on which hustle you pursue and how consistently you work at it. Pinterest Marketing Managers typically charge $300 to $1,000 per month per client.
Affiliate marketers can earn anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars per month once their account gains traction.
Bloggers using Pinterest for traffic can see significant ad revenue and affiliate income growth. Most beginners earn their first $100 to $500 within the first few months of consistent effort.
