## 1. Quick Introduction
**Main Character:** korni, a veteran member on BlackHatWorld[.]com, joined in 2010. He has long-standing experience building niche websites but previously failed with a project dependent on Google SEO due to 2023 algorithm updates. After that, korni switched to Pinterest and made it big!
**Implementation Timeline:** Started January 9, 2024, reported through June 7, 2024 (approximately 5 months). Key milestones:
– **January 2024:** Built website and Pinterest account from scratch
– **February–March 2024:** Traffic started growing, focused on pin optimization
– **April–June 2024:** Traffic exploded, monetized with Mediavine Journey
*Actually this case is longer but I’m exhausted :))) check the original case for full details!*
**Target Audience:** Targeting international markets, especially US (84.9% of Pinterest users). Primary audience is women (82.59% of Pinterest users are female, 3.99% male, 13.4% other), with topics like lifestyle, home decor, fashion. However, korni didn’t choose overly “feminine” niches like makeup or nails, as they didn’t match personal interests.
## 2. How the Money Is Made
Korni earns money primarily through display advertising, combined with some plans for affiliate marketing and paid guest posts. Here’s how:
### Display Advertising (Mediavine Journey)
This is the main revenue source, accounting for ~90% of income. Mediavine Journey is an advertising program for small websites, requiring minimum 10,000 sessions/month. From May 7 to June 6, 2024, korni’s website earned $2,348.16 with RPM ~$46.04 (actually estimated ~$30–35 due to traffic reporting differences).
### Affiliate Marketing
Korni planned to join high-commission programs like ShareASale[.]com or CJ Affiliate[.]com, but hasn’t implemented much yet as he’s focused on advertising.
### Paid Guest Posts
He planned to accept paid guest posts, since the website doesn’t depend on SEO so there’s no fear of Google penalties. But hasn’t done this yet in this phase.
### How the Money Flows In
Korni creates pins (beautiful images) on Pinterest, driving viewers to articles on the website. Each article is about 1,000–1,500 words long, containing Mediavine ads, earning money based on impressions and sessions. In May 2024, the website reached 4.18 million impressions, 73.14k outbound clicks, 71k sessions, and 88k pageviews (according to GA4), generating $2,348.16.
### Operating Costs
– **Domain:** ~$10–15/year
– **Hosting:** ~$5–10/month (typical WordPress hosting)
– **Kadence Theme (premium):** ~$50/year
– **Social Sharing Plugin:** ~$20/year
– **Canva Pro:** ~$120/year (~$10/month)
– **Midjourney:** ~$10–30/month (depending on plan)
– **Total Initial Cost:** ~$200–300, mainly fixed costs and tools. No paid advertising used, saving much more than other models.
### High Potential
With RPM ~$30–35, the website could reach $10,000/month if hitting 10 million impressions/month and maintaining CTR ~1.5% (equivalent to ~150,000 sessions/month). Korni even dreams of selling the website for 6 figures (~$100,000–500,000) if reaching the goal.
**Special Point:** This model leverages Pinterest to avoid Google SEO dependency, very suitable for visual niches and female audiences. Low cost, easily scalable, but with risks from Pinterest algorithm (like impression drops on May 31, 2024) and low CTR of image-only pins.
## 3. Tools Used
Korni used both AI and non-AI tools to operate the system. Let’s review:
### AI Tools
**ChatGPT/GPT-4 API:**
**Purpose:**
– Write long articles ~1,000–1,500 words, listicle format like “60 Spring Dinner Ideas” to attract clicks from Pinterest
– Create pin titles and descriptions with main keywords, optimized for Pinterest search
– Compose detailed prompts for Midjourney to create unique images
**Strengths:** Korni uses specific prompts to make articles readable (Flesch reading score >80), clear language, active voice, avoiding obvious advertising. Example prompt:
“`
Write in the following style:
– Use clear language, avoid complex terminology
– Target Flesch reading score >80
– Use active voice
– Avoid adverbs
– Avoid buzzwords, use simple English
– Use jargon when appropriate
– Avoid sales pitch tone, maintain gentle confidence
“`
Requires manual editing to ensure content doesn’t “sound like AI,” ensuring natural and audience-appropriate content.
**Midjourney:**
**Purpose:**
– Create ~95% of images for pins and articles, with unique prompts for each idea (example: not repeating “cozy living room” but creating new images for each concept)
– Support logo creation (combined with Canva)
**Strengths:** Cheaper than stock images (~$0.1–0.5/image vs $1–5/image on Shutterstock[.]com). Unique images help increase virality and competition. But requires prompt creation skills and time for post-processing (compression, formatting, WordPress upload).
### Non-AI Tools
**Canva:**
**Purpose:**
– Design text overlay and collage pins with custom templates, achieving high CTR (~3–4%)
– Create logo and other visual elements for website
**Strengths:** Easy to use, creates high-quality pins, but time-consuming (~45–60 minutes for 20–30 pins/article). Reusable templates save time later.
**Kadence Theme (WordPress):**
**Purpose:** Website interface, CSS customization to optimize speed and user experience
**Strengths:** Lightweight, fast, reasonable price (~$50/year), very suitable for niche websites getting traffic from social media.
**Social Sharing Plugin:**
**Purpose:** Add “Pin It” button on every image in articles, encouraging natural repins
**Strengths:** Increases virality, especially with articles containing many beautiful images.
**Google Analytics (GA4) and Google Search Console (GSC):**
**Purpose:**
– GA4: Track sessions, pageviews, users, and average engagement time
– GSC: Check search performance (though not focusing on SEO)
**Strengths:** GA4 reports higher traffic than Mediavine Journey (~12–13k session difference), helps analyze user behavior to optimize content.
**Buffer (planned):**
**Purpose:** Schedule automatic pin posting, cheap (~$6/month), but korni hasn’t used it yet as he wants to control quality
**Keywords Everywhere:**
**Purpose:** Research keywords on Pinterest, find keywords with high search volume
**Strengths:** Useful for initial keyword direction, though data isn’t always accurate.
**Pinterest Trends:**
**Purpose:** Analyze search trends (example: “spring dinner ideas”), target hot topics
**Strengths:** Free, provides seasonal and regional data, but needs combination with Keywords Everywhere for optimization.
## 4. Implementation Process
Korni divided the process into 3 stages, extremely systematic. Let’s see how he did it:
### Stage 1: Setup and Launch (January 2024)
**Actions:**
– Buy short, memorable domain (~$10–15)
– Install WordPress with Kadence theme, customize CSS, install social sharing plugin (~$20/year)
– Create simple but professional logo using Canva and Midjourney
– Set up Pinterest account, choose niche targeting women (lifestyle, home decor, fashion) but not too “feminine” to match preferences
– Research keywords with Pinterest Trends and Keywords Everywhere, find hot keywords with moderate competition
– Write ~10 articles (~1,000–1,500 words) using ChatGPT, create 50+ pins (5–10 pins/article) with Canva, post ~10–15 pins/day
**Details:**
– Focus on pins over SEO. Each pin has main keyword in title and description, leading to website article
– Face Pinterest “sandbox” issue (pins don’t appear on home feed, similar to Google), but persist with consistent posting
– Images mainly from Midjourney (~95%), some from Instagram (~5%, slightly risky due to copyright)
**Results:**
– Website completed with silo structure (4 main categories, many subcategories)
– Pinterest account reached 1.96k impressions, 117 engagements, 37 outbound clicks, 10 saves (January 26–27, 2024)
– Website traffic nearly zero, but foundation set for growth
### Stage 2: Growth and Optimization (February–March 2024)
**Actions:**
– Increase pin posting frequency from ~10–15 to ~20–30 pins/day, prioritize text overlay/collage pins due to high CTR (~3–4%) vs image-only (~0.4–0.5%)
– Write ~10–15 new articles, each with 5–10 pins, use Midjourney to create unique images
– Try second Pinterest account in different niche, but failed (only 10–30 impressions/day), suspected shadow ban due to lack of specific keywords
– Analyze competitors on X (example: account with 4.4M views with <1,000 pins) and Pinterest, learn pin design and keyword selection
– Apply for Mediavine Journey, wait for domain to be 4 months old (from May 2024)
**Details:**
– Pinterest algorithm annoying, pins don’t appear on home feed initially. Korni persists with consistent posting and tries various pin types
– Optimize pin descriptions with natural keywords (example: “Spring Dinner Ideas for Family” instead of “Dinner Ideas”)
– Notice weekends (Saturday, Sunday) have higher traffic, so post pins in early morning and evening
– Image-only pins have low CTR, need to switch to text overlay
**Results:**
– **February 2024:** 184.52k impressions, 9.84k engagements, 2.15k outbound clicks, 910 saves, 75.25k total audience. Website reached 3.2k pageviews, 2.3k sessions, 2.1k users (GA4)
– **March 2024:** Peak 25.22k impressions/day (March 24), 268 outbound clicks, 150 saves. Traffic increased strongly, but CTR decreased (~0.75%) due to image-only pins
– Second account not effective, abandoned
### Stage 3: Breakthrough and Monetization (April–June 2024)
**Actions:**
– Maintain ~30 pins/day, focus on text overlay/collage pins (CTR ~1–1.5%), reduce image-only pins due to low CTR
– Accepted into Mediavine Journey (May 2024), earned $2,348.16 from May 7 to June 6, 2024
– Optimize listicle content (example: “60 Spring Dinner Ideas” or “20 Things to Do in Amsterdam”) to increase CTR. Add “Pin It” button to encourage repins
– Face Pinterest algorithm issue: May 31, 2024, many pins dropped to 0 impressions, suspected “partial shadow ban”. Some pins recovered, but impressions decreased significantly
– Plan to diversify traffic from Facebook, Reddit, Flipboard to reduce Pinterest risk
**Details:**
– Reached milestones: 50.76k impressions, 699 outbound clicks (April 14); 100.61k impressions, 1.53k outbound clicks (April 28); 3,114 pageviews/day (May 18)
– **May 2024:** 4.18M impressions, 73.14k outbound clicks, 9.54k saves, 71k sessions, 88k pageviews (GA4)
– GA4 reports higher traffic than Mediavine (~12–13k sessions), making actual RPM lower (~$30–35)
– Second account completely abandoned
**Results:**
– **Revenue:** $2,348.16 (May 2024) from Mediavine Journey
– **Traffic:** 4.18M impressions, 73.14k outbound clicks, 71k sessions, 88k pageviews
– Total ~550 pins on main account, reached 3,114 pageviews/day (May 18)
– Haven’t reached 10M impressions/month goal, but 4.18M impressions in May is big progress
## 5. Results Achieved
### Revenue
**Total:** $2,348.16 from Mediavine Journey (May 7–June 6, 2024), with RPM ~$46.04 (actually ~$30–35 due to reporting differences)
No revenue yet from affiliate or paid posts, but huge potential in the future.
### Activity Statistics
**Pinterest (May 2024):**
– **Impressions:** 4.18M (increased 137% from previous month)
– **Engagements:** 259.97k (increased 150%)
– **Outbound clicks:** 73.14k (increased 218%)
– **Saves:** 9.54k (increased 49%)
– **Total audience:** 1.75M (increased 111%)
– **Engaged audience:** 150.05k (increased 134%)
**Website (GA4, May 2024):**
– **Pageviews:** 88k (increased 210.8%)
– **Sessions:** 71k (increased 181.2%)
– **Users:** 67k (increased 187.1%)
– **Average engagement time:** 43 seconds (decreased 16.8%)
– **Peak:** 3,114 pageviews/day (May 18)
**Pin Count:** ~550 on main account, ~200 on second account (abandoned)
### Other Achievements
– Successfully built niche website, correctly targeting female audience on Pinterest (82.59% users are female)
– Accepted into Mediavine Journey, created stable cash flow
– Mastered pin optimization skills (text overlay/collage pins with high CTR), competitor research, and effective AI use (ChatGPT, Midjourney)
– Built sustainable content system with Canva templates and ChatGPT prompts, reducing production time
### Challenges
– Unstable Pinterest algorithm, impression drops on May 31, 2024 (many pins to 0), suspected “partial shadow ban”
– Image-only pins have low CTR (~0.4–0.5%) vs text overlay (~3–4%), need more impressions to reach 50k sessions
– Spend ~5–6 hours/day writing articles, creating pins, managing website
– Traffic reporting difference: GA4 records ~12–13k sessions higher than Mediavine Journey, affecting revenue estimates
## 6. Lessons Learned
### What Made This Successful
**Focus on Pinterest:** Ignore Google SEO, leverage Pinterest’s visual nature and female audience, reached 4.18M impressions in May 2024.
**Text Overlay/Collage Pins:** High CTR (~3–4%) vs image-only (~0.4–0.5%). Example: A text overlay pin with 1,000 impressions generates 30–40 clicks, while image-only only 4–5 clicks.
**Competitor Research:** Analyze hot accounts on X (example: 4.4M views with <1,000 pins) and Pinterest, learn pin design, keywords, content optimization. Korni uses “reverse engineering” skills to find competitors and analyze strategies.
**Listicles:** Articles like “60 Spring Dinner Ideas” or “20 Things to Do in Amsterdam” attract strong clicks, match Pinterest user behavior.
### What Was Creative?
**Effective Midjourney Use:** Create ~95% unique images, cheaper than stock images, increase competitiveness. Unique prompts for each title/item make images diverse.
**Repin Optimization:** Add “Pin It” button on every image in articles, encourage natural repins, increase virality without cost.
**Combine AI and Traditional Tools:** ChatGPT writes articles, creates prompts; Canva designs pins; Midjourney generates images, creating super-efficient content production workflow.
**Light Build in Public:** Though not publicly sharing niche, korni shares detailed progress on BlackHatWorld[.]com, attracting attention and receiving community feedback.
### Challenges and Solutions
**Unstable Pinterest Algorithm (impression drops May 31, 2024):** Continue posting ~30 pins/day, prioritize text overlay pins, plan additional traffic sources (Facebook, Reddit, Flipboard).
**Time-Consuming (~5–6 hours/day):** Use Canva templates, effective ChatGPT prompts, consider automation tools like Pingenerator or BlogToPin (not yet implemented).
**Low CTR of Image-Only Pins:** Switch completely to text overlay/collage pins, prioritize listicles and “inspire action” designs (per Tony Hill).
**Traffic Reporting Difference (GA4 vs Mediavine):** Accept variance, focus on increasing traffic to compensate and improve RPM.
### Suggestions for Beginners
**Start Small:**
– Register domain (~$10) and hosting (~$5/month), use WordPress with free Kadence theme
– Create Pinterest account, choose visual niche targeting women (home decor, recipes, fashion)
– Write 5–10 articles (~1,000 words) using ChatGPT, create 5 pins/article with Canva (use free account)
**Build System:**
– Post ~10–15 pins/day in first month to “warm up” account, increase to ~20–30 pins/day after 2 months
– Use Midjourney (~$10/month) to create images, focus on text overlay/collage pins
– Install social sharing plugin (~$20/year) to add “Pin It” button on images
– Find keywords using Pinterest Trends and Keywords Everywhere (example: “spring dinner ideas”)
**Marketing:**
– Post pins during peak hours (early morning, evening, especially weekends)
– Create listicles (example: “20 Summer Outfit Ideas” or “60 Spring Dinner Ideas”) to attract clicks
– Research competitors by finding successful accounts on Pinterest or X, analyze pin designs and keywords
**Initial Cost:** ~$50–100 (domain, hosting, Canva Pro, Midjourney). Can use free Canva and Midjourney trial to reduce costs.
**Learn Skills:**
– Watch Canva/Midjourney tutorials on YouTube
– Read Pinterest for Business and Mediavine Journey documentation
– Join BlackHatWorld[.]com to learn pin optimization tips and competitor research
**Important Notes:**
– Avoid image-only pins to ensure high CTR
– Post unique content, avoid copying to reduce shadow ban risk
– Be patient 3–6 months, as Pinterest needs time to push pins to home feed
