Some months I am all about the giveaways. Other months it is like crickets chirping around this blog. My guidelines about hosting giveaways. I’m still learning how to do them effectively.
- Write about about the item you are giving away. Tell a funny story. 2-3 paragraphs is all you need to write. At the end of the post announce that you are hosting a giveaway for your readers. Describe the item. Mention the value. If it is something you purchased..mention it.
- Entries… Offer a mandatory entry. Ask entrants to answer a question or tell you a funny story. Then offer optional entries…follow on twitter, Facebook, subscribe in a reader.
- Deets… Set a deadline for entries to be turned in — 12/2/2010 11:59 a.m. Decide if giveaway will be open to U.S. and Canada or U.S. Close the giveaway by turning off comments.
- Choosing winner… Sift through entries to delete spammy ones. Install a spam comment blocker like Akismet. Count entries — I have an entries counter but I haven’t been able to figure out how to use it. Choose entry through random.org.
- Contacting winner… Give winner a deadline to respond to you. Once you have the winner, send winner’s information to PR or ship package yourself if you purchased the item.
The part I fail on with giveaways is promoting them. I should tweet more and consistently list them at sites like Prizey.net and Online-Sweepstakes.com
