Haven’t heard of Pinterest? You soon will. With 4,000 per cent growth (yes, that’s right, four thousand) in the last six months and 4 million registered users, it’s hard to keep a social media site like this a secret.

Described by some as a “homeowner’s dream come true”, Pinterest lets users create virtual pin-boards where they can assemble or “pin” images they like. Then, they can share those boards with family, friends and other Pinterest users who may go on to re-pin those images on their own boards.

Why does Pinterest matter to construction professionals? Well, not only is it where your customers are hanging out, it’s where they’re searching for examples of the kind of work you do. 83 per cent of Pinterest users are women who spend, on average, between an hour to an hour and a half at a time on the site, combing through each other’s boards for inspiration on everything from dresses to dream houses. When they see a picture they love, clicking on it takes them back to the website it originated from (like yours). It’s a great opportunity for savvy contractors who want to give homeowners an easy way to discover their work.

And while we’re on the topic of dream houses, have you heard about Houzz? Houzz.com is where in-the-know homeowners are going these days to create idea books for their next remodeling projects. Someone planning to do a bathroom reno, for example, could do a site search for ‘bathrooms’ and get pages of examples of beautiful bathrooms. Beside each image is a link to information of the company who posted it on Houzz, complete with their address and phone number.

Drop by Houzz and Pinterest and see if they make sense for boosting your bottom line. Here’s to 4,000 per cent growth for your renovation business.

Karen Hamilton is part of the team at Hammerati.com. Hammerati is a professional network exclusively for the construction industry.