We started the NorCal Valuation Inc. equipment appraisal Pinterest account as an experiment and it’s turned into a fun little project. As equipment appraisers we take thousands of pictures every year and it is an area we like to have some creative fun with.
As of today, we’ve got about 20 boards, most of which are dedicated to equipment. We’ve got boards for cranes, mining & dredging equipment, construction equipment, manufacturing equipment, ag equipment, industry, manufacturing, trucks & tractors, testing equipment, snow removal, restaurant & food processing equipment, and a variation of food/ag processing for things like lettuce sorters and corn dryers.
Almost every day we get an email or 2 from Pinterest letting us know someone has re-pinned one of our photos to another board or that someone has started following us. Yep, we’ve got 58 followers! Not winning any prizes, I know, but pretty good for a Pinterest account without photos of food, cute animals, beautiful people or stunning home decor. And it’s gratifying to discover how much of Pinterest is actually about equipment. If you haven’t been over yet, come visit and search around.
But I’m warning you. Don’t just type in “equipment” and expect to find anything fun. There seems to be some clothing label for women with that name … “Heavy equipment” isn’t much better if you’re really looking for yellow iron. And oh yeah, searching for “yellow iron” drops you right into the surreal world of yellow garden furniture and gates. Don’t think “John Deere” is actually going to get you tractors, either. You’re just as likely to end up looking at theme cakes & home decor. And don’t even think about searching for CAT … if you do, don’t say we didn’t warn you.
So you’ll have to be more specific. Or less specific. Or try brand names combined with equipment type. Or look for something generic, like construction equipment, or mining equipment. Be prepared for toys, for lego constructions, jigsaw puzzles, adorable rain boots, aprons or wallpaper. There are old ads, vintage photos, cartoons, videos. And photos of cakes. Cakes for every industry: construction, ag, mining & aggregate, trucks & trailers, manufacturing equipment … maybe I should add a “cake” board to my equipment appraisal Pinterest account?
And there’s perhaps the best tip: search by boards rather than pins. I looked for CNC machines as boards and scrolled through over 180 boards. By looking at the previews (& pin-count per board), you can get a pretty good idea of the focus and intensity of the board. Is it a “brand” board, a hobby board, a production item board, or a “1-pin wonder” board? You’ll see what I mean when you get there.
Be sure to check out the NorCal Valuation Inc. boards while you’re browsing. It’s a good starting point if you’re interested in spending a few hours in equipment eye-candy land.
