Visual Can Mean Viral. Can Pinterest Do the Same For the Image of Mom & Pop Shops?

In this digital age, a good visual may mean the difference between more social media noise and a solid viral post.

Take Pinterest for example. The more appealing the image, the more it gets “pinned” or shared.

The service has been a boon for artists and other visually inclined professions, but why stop there?

Brick and mortar businesses are catching on and learning to exploit this free tool. Restauranteurs are teasing hungry cubicle-bound workers with food photos just before noon; antique stores entice more shoppers (or hipsters) to stop by with images of their latest inventory; and savvy stylists are flaunting their work with before and after shots of their clients' hair or makeup.

The possibilities are endless.

Some larger corporations have already gotten on board, including GAP (clothing), Sephora (makeup) and Chobani (yogurt).

One Patch blogger posted an easy-to-digest explanation and instructions on how to create a business account on Pinterest. 

Do you know of any local businesses that have branched out from the coziness of Facebook and Twitter? If so, let us know what service you’re using and how it’s working in the comment section, below. Better yet, start a blog on Patch by scrolling to the bottom of this page and selecting the green “+Star blogging” button.