Pinterest has captured the attention of the media and the masses alike since its inception in 2010. But, some businesses are still left wondering how to use Pinterest to increase their social reputation.

In this free Pinterest for Businesses e-book from Garden Media, businesses can learn how to create a Pinterest account, grow followers, attract attention, improve click-thrus and spread the word about new products or services.

For those not in the know, Pinterest is a social network that allows users to visually share, curate, and discover new interests by posting, or ‘pinning,’ images or videos to boards. Its ease of use for visually bookmarking, organizing and sharing things has made it a hit - 11.7 million unique U.S. hits to be exact - according to Pinterest’s Wikipedia page.

For Katie McCoy Dubow, Creative Officer at Garden Media, Pinterest is about finding Do-It-Yourself projects. She pins pictures of beautiful gardens, hot upcoming trends and decorating ideas to the Garden Media Pinterest board, as a reminder about what’s cool in the lawn and garden industry.

"I started using Pinterest as a virtual idea board for wedding planning. It's a lot cheaper and cleaner than tearing out pages from magazines,” she explains.

"Now at Garden Media, we’re looking at what’s happening in Europe and Asia. We’re pinning photos of what we think is going to make a ripple in garden and outdoor living.”

The Pinterest e-book from Garden Media suggests capitalizing on the popularity of info graphics, which do very well on Pinterest. “If you have any industry data that you can visualize, do so before someone beats you to it,” Dubow explains.

Garden Media also recommends holding contests, adding the ‘Pin It’ button to your website, and letting other users contribute their own pins to your business pinboard -- especially if their content includes your product.

Dubow says, “The trick to succeeding on Pinterest is not showing off your products and services directly. It is about finding creative ways to show how those products and services fit into the lifestyles of your target audience.”

Even though the site’s current users are about 70 percent female, Pinterest is continuing to grow. Early this year, it became the third most-popular social network, behind Facebook and Twitter, according to a report by Experian Marketing Services.

Bottom line: Pinterest helps drive traffic to your website, so if a business isn’t playing in this social space, it’s missing out.

For more information on Garden Media visit http://www.gardenmediagroup.com.