One Step to Increase Your Pinterest Blog Traffic TODAY

I may have mentioned before that I am not super tech savvy.  Every step I take to make my blog look more professional is scary to me, and all the info out there can be overwhelming.  I cannot afford a professional graphic designer so I just muddle along making changes when I can.  I'll bet I am not the only one in this situation, and as I Pin things to my Pinterest board I see  a lot of professional and established bloggers who still have just simple pictures as pins for their various blog posts.
I wanted to address these fellow bloggers with my hard won advice:  STOP IT.

Stop pinning simple, albeit gorgeous pictures.  From my marketing background I know a sign with an edge or frame around it is read faster and more often than one without.  I know the pictures I like to look at on Pinterest, the ones I still struggle to emulate.  These two factors made me decide it is time to share the ONE THING I think increased my Pinterest Blog Traffic to bring six times more traffic than from my direct dedicated existing readership:  PIC MONKEY.

Pic Monkey is FREE, although I now do pay $33 per YEAR for the extras I now want.  I use Pic Monkey on my strongest blog posts to have an attractive, "pinnable" Pinterest worthy picture specifically for Pinterest boards.  I've used Pic Monkey for about a year now and I only just started playing with their labels, overlays etc.  I even made a pretty sign for our church bathroom to alert the hairspray thief I am on to her, and offer her free gift instead of having her steal the hairspray I put there to bless other women every. stinking. week.  

Here is their tutorial to add text to a photo.




I just LOVE IT.  The one flaw is even as a paid user I do not see how to save a project IN PROCESS on Pic Monkey. Can someone clue me in?  

 This is from a series I did on ...wait for it...30 Days of Less is More.

 I was experimenting here and the basic picture is fuzzy but with the Pic Monkey tools it was very useable.

One of my favorites.  My pictures are just average from my smart phone, so the 

Pic Monkey help...HELPS!

As I learn more about the Pic Monkey tools, I see how much more I could do with this one!

 This one got lots of attention and repins on Pinterest

 Again, even with fuzzy pictures, using Pic Monkey's Collage option....great stuff.

I kind of crack myself up.

It would be SO EASY for you to use Pic Monkey better than I do.  I think if you come up with your own theme and use similar visual clues for every pinterest post it would be better.  I am still learning how to do things...in fact I redid my banner to get rid of the silly "LYLOL 2012" tag I had on there from when I first did a header on Clover Lane.  back when I was first trying to look like a 'real blogger' and not just a stay at home mama.  

I would love to hear your tips and tools for being (or at least looking like ) a professional blogger.