Tips For Entering Blog Contests Article - Share your Tips!

[elliott_gyal]

I BORROWED THIS INFORMATION FROM A BLOG I FOLLOW
credit to MSH blogger, aka Prophecy_Girl here at SC
her blog post which I borrowed is located here: http://www.mysecrethome.com/2010/12/...-tips-for.html




Successful Blogging 101 - Tips For Entering Giveaways


I see these posts all over blogs, but there are still a great number of people who don't follow the rules properly. Lets all work together to make the blogging world as user-friendly as possible! Whether you are a blogger or a giveaway junkie, you might want to read this.

I have been entering contests for a couple of years now. I never had any luck with big company contests. The ones where they have 1 prize and thousands of entrants. Earlier this year, I discovered blog giveaways and after I won my first couple of prizes, I was hooked! It's great odds and great prizes. I have been pretty lucky with my prizes and I believe that it's because I set up an "entering system" for myself to make sure I follow all giveaway rules.

Here is what I learned from entering contests as well as hosting them.

Mandatory Entry
Always complete the mandatory entry first. Usually it will ask you to visit sponsor's website and comment with another item you would like to try. Unless the rules state that you will get what you select, you can put down any item off the website. Do not mention what has been already mentioned in the review. (Tip - I used to spend a lot of time selecting other items I like, now I quickly put down a random item and if I like the company, I bookmark them to check out later.)

E-Mail
Leave your e-mail address with every comment! To avoid spam you can use this format (only on Blogger blogs where comments are visible) - yourname at hotmail dot com.

Many blogs will tell you to get a separate e-mail account for entering giveaways. I use one account for all e-mails and another for communicating with sponsors. I actually liked it better when I had just one. I'm also in favor of Hotmail over Gmail or Yahoo, because you can view e-mails without having to go to another page.

I only subscribe to blogs if I enter a lot of giveaways there. If it's just one time, but I like the blog, I bookmark it first. If I subscribe and the realize that 98% of giveaways are open to US only, I cancel subscription. I try to keep my mailbox tidy and I don't want a million of e-mails. I'd rather have 20 subscriptions and actually look through e-mails.

Social Media
For Facebook bonus entries - leave your facebook first name and initial so the blogger can confirm your entry. Same goes for Twitter, leave your @name. When you tweet, leave the direct link to your tweet (you can do this by right clicking on the time stamp right under your tweet and selecting "copy link location".

Please note, it's against Facebook's rules to use Facebook as an extra entry into a giveaway. It's okay to "like" someone for any extra entry, but not ok to post on sponsor's wall for an extra entry. I would avoid such bonus entries as Facebook can cancel your account at any time. You can read more about it here.

Bonus Entries
When you say you do something like subscribe via e-mail, make sure you do and your subscription is confirmed. Same goes for everything else. If you are not sure if you have already "liked" the sponsor on Facebook, it only takes a second to check.

Rules
Always read the rules. You don't have to read every word, but look through to make sure you qualify. If like me you are in Canada (or other country), make sure the rules say that giveaway is open to Canada. If it doesn't say anything - don't enter. You will most likely waste your time, because the sponsor won't ship to Canada.

Quick Tips
Have your information ready so you can copy and paste your bonus entries. I have my information in a notepad. It's basically a list like this -

subscribe via email
myname at hotmail dot com

like you on facebook as Jen M.
myname at hotmail dot com

- this way I never forget to put down my e-mail, facebook name, etc. and it definitely cuts down on entering time.

For my daily tweets, I have a 'draft' in my e-mail account where I write down all tweets by their expiry dates. If the original tweet message doesn't have an expiry, I add one in. It takes a second, but will make your life easier.

Prioritize your entering time - I only do daily tweets if I really want the prize. I tried doing daily tweets for everything I entered and that ate away 2 hours each day. You might think that it's impossible to win without lots of extra entries - I win a lot of great prizes by just entering once. It's all about luck. If the prize is meant to be yours - you will win it!

If you really want to win a specific prize, you can do a search on Twitter or go to company's Facebook page. You will find more of the same giveaway and if you enter them, all you chances of winning that prize will really increase.

If a prize is a Gift Certificate - check company's shipping rates before entering. The giveaway might be open to Canada or Worldwide, but shipping might cost you $20. It's not really worth it to enter for a $25 Gift Certificate prize.

Can never say this enough - please leave always your e-mail address when entering giveaways. I sometimes go through all comments on my giveaways and guess what? Out of say 60 entrants 10 won't have their contact info which automatically disqualifies them. Another 10 say they do something like follow via GFC or subscribe via email, and their email is not on my subscriber's list. It's a shame, because a lot of the times it's people who do the bonus tweets every day.

[elliott_gyal]

I figured we could all share some tips/ideas for the blog/twitter/facebook contests with eachother. Im relatively new to blog contests and I know many people avoid entering them because they are unsure of what they need to do. Just thought it would be nice to help eachother out

[FallenPixels]

You know something that drives me crazy about those, most software you need to enter your email to enter the comment so you dont need to actually type it but they want you to put your email out there for the world

even spam bots can pick up a lot of myname (at) hotmail (dot) com now

[thekaraokechick]

thanks for the tips!

[elliott_gyal]

How does everyone keep track of the blog contests theyve entered ? just save to faves?
Im looking through a few blogs with like 300+ comments and im trying to see if i did the mandatory entry, etc but so many pages lol

edit: Usually I just post them here to share with everyone, but sometimes two blogs offer the same prize, so it confuses the heck out of me because it seems familiar but then i didnt post it here? lol

[Prophecy_Girl]

Thanks for posting my post on Giveaway Tips! There will be more to come. My first post was so long I had to break it up in 2. Also have giveaway tips for bloggers coming up. I have so many pet peeves when it comes to how giveaways are set up. Like Bloggers not mentioning who the giveaway is open to

As for how I keep track of what I've entered. I just somehow remember where I've been : ) I have usual sites where I always enter and the random ones I usually enter once and forget. I have yet to enter somewhere twice.
If you really can't remember -
If it's blogger comments, you can check each page and search (in firefox main menu-edit-find) for your username. On WordPress that won't work...
You can check if you have liked sponsor's page on facebook & twitter. If you haven't than you probably haven't entered!

[elliott_gyal]

I think thats my biggest pet peeve too, because Id like to ask "is this open to Canadians as well?" But I dont want to put it in the comments because thats where people enter. Its odd that a lot of blogs don't specify. "US ONLY" is only 6 letters; can't see it being that much more time to type lol

[Prophecy_Girl]

I tried hosting a giveaway linky and asked bloggers to specify who the giveaway is opened to. I kept on making the rules larger and larger, than changed color to red. Seems like no matter what you do, no one reads anything and doesn't care to make it easier for other countries to enter. I don't care if the giveaway is US only, I just wanna know if it is or isn't.
I can go on and on about negative things! But I don't want karma to bite me in the butt for being negative. After all, without blogs and bloggers we won't have all these great packages frequently arriving in the mail :D

[tvwatcher]

I keep track of ALL the contests I enter with a spreadsheet, including blog contests - I have a separate tab for the blog contests, with a column for the name of the blog (My Wee View, Mom to Bed by 8, My Organized Chaos etc.), a column for what the prize is, a column for when it expires, a column for the date that I entered, and a column for if you can tweet more then once - if you can tweet 5 times a day, for example, I put "5 tweets", and if the tweets have to be spaced out by a certain amount of time, I put "5 tweets, 3 hrs apart" or whatever the time frame must be.

And if more than 1 tweet is allowed, I keep track of the times I do the tweets with a "comment" - for instance, today for a contest, if I did the first tweet at 2pm, I'll enter the date in the date column, then right click to enter a comment, and then in the comment section I'll enter the time - this is using excel.

I can tell at a glance if I entered for the day or not by looking at the date column - for today, if it says Dec. 25, I'll know I entered already - if it still says Dec 24, I know I haven't. When I DO enter I'll overwrite the Dec. 24 with Dec 25

And if I entered, I know I did the mandatory entry, because it must be done first, and if my spreadsheet says I entered, then obviously I did the mandatory entry.

And because my spreadsheet shows the name of the blog & the prize, I won't mix up the blogs, if I come across another blog with the same prize.

When the blog contest is over, I move the line to the bottom of the sheet - I keep 10 or so blank lines between the current contests and the expired ones - and if I win, I change the colour of the prize to red, so that it stands out - then I can scroll through the expired blog contests and see at a glance what prizes I won, because they're all in red

there's some blogs, My Organized Chaos, for example - that specify the eligibility on a page separate from the contest - under "promotions" it says "giveaway rules" and then it says unless otherwise stated, all giveaways are open to Canada and the U.S.

this probably sounds confusing if you don't understand spreadsheets, but hopefully this helps someone.

[couponmom]

For my blog, I have some people put all the entries into one comment so this way they miss out. I think some people feel they have to have a new email address to enter. Also, some of my regular readers forget to mention that they are google friend connect members already so they miss out on a entry.

[Prophecy_Girl]

http://www.mysecrethome.com/2011/01/...-giveaway.html

I have been asked a lot of questions since I posted - Successful Blogging 101 - Tips For Entering Giveaways, especially "What to do if you don't receive a prize". I decided to write another quick post.

What to do when you win
- When replying to a winning e-mail - make sure to thank the blogger

- Follow instructions in the e-mail. If it says to reply with a phone number (for shipping purposes) - do it, otherwise blogger will have to e-mail you more times than needed.


- Write your shipping address in a proper form.
First & Last Name
# Street
City, State, Postal Code
Country
Capitalize everything that needs to be capitalized. It is frustrating to receive an e-mail with an address like this - jen m 123 abc street vancouver bc - you get the point!


- I personally would appreciate if you drop a line when you receive your prize.


What to do if you don't receive your prize
Keep track of your winnings in a word document - If you don't receive the prize within 6-8 weeks, check in with the blogger. Most bloggers will go out of their way to get you your prize. I've had negative experiences too, where bloggers don't seem to care about prize not arriving. In that case I stop following their blog, it's their loss.
If the blogger hasn't replied to you within a month, send another e-mail asking them whether they have received your initial e-mail and state again that you haven't received a prize yet. If the blogger doesn't seem like they are trying to get you your prize - just leave it. Like I said above, I would just unsubscribe and stop entering their giveaways. I wouldn't e-mail the sponsor myself. I'm not sure if anyone has done it? If anyone has, leave a comment, maybe I am missing out!


Be fair
Only enter if you really want the prize and can actually use it or give it to someone close to you. My number one priority are prizes I can use with my little guy or something for myself. I don't have extra time to enter for friends or distant family. Be fair and think before you enter. If you play nice - good karma will be on your side and you will win lots of great stuff.


If my prize has arrived and it's not what I thought it would be or I simply don't like it, I give it away to friends and family. I have given one prize away on this blog as well. I don't believe in selling something I won and I would never enter a giveaway with the intention of selling the prize.

(Forgot to add this) If you have won a giveaway from a particular company - do not enter their giveaways again. I would only enter again if it says "one win per 90 days". Or if a year has gone by and the prize is completely different from what I originally won. If you do enter and win again, most likely the company will refuse to send you a prize anyways. What to do if you won once and then won again on another blog? It's happened to me a couple times and I e-mailed back saying I have already won this prize and that a new winner can be chosen.

[nottinkerbell]

Do you still have to publicly put your email if you're already putting it in the email line of the comment form?? I just hate sharing my email for spammers to see...

[Prophecy_Girl]

Do you still have to publicly put your email if you're already putting it in the email line of the comment form?? I just hate sharing my email for spammers to see...

No, you don't have too.

You only need to leave it for Blogger comments which have no separate line for e-mail address. But if you have a public Blogger profile and your e-mail is visible, then you also don't need to leave it in your comments.

[nottinkerbell]

Thanks Prophecy girl

and thanks everyone for sharing all your tips. It is seriously confusing to figure this all out to start with!

[Lexilighter]

Hi everyone! I just started entering contests on twitter yesterday and realized I don't really know what I'm doing...From doing some reading on here I have learned a lot but I have another question - do I have to post the link to my tweet in the comment section of the blog each day that I tweet for an extra entry? Or is the first time enough? Thanks a lot!!