Though
extremely effective, majority of the bloggers don’t travel on the blog contest
highway to increase unique and targeted visitors to their blogs. There are two
reasons that come to my mind for this reluctance to tap the potential of giveaways
for blog promotion.
1. There are nothing
worthwhile to giveaway
2. Don’t know how to
promote the sweepstakes
If
there is one word in the Internet that attracts maximum clicks, it is the word “FREE”.
From digital information to product samples, people love to take what is
offered free, whether they want it or not.
Do you know that there
are literally thousands of people who constantly scour the Internet to find
online competitions that offer monetary benefits as well as free products and discount
offers in leading shopping malls? I am no exception. However, I like only
digital information and I know how to make money out of it as an ‘infopreneur’.
So, what is blog
contest?
You
host a contest on your blog. It means you announce an event that ends on a
particular date and you also declare the prize you would give to the winner.
An
example of blog contest:
Let
us say you have a Facebook page and you want it boast of ‘1000 Likes’. In order
to encourage people to ‘like’ your Facebook page, you announce a prize which
can be anything that you can afford to giveaway.
You
announce a starting date and an ending date. You publish an image of your
Facebook page and link it too.
When
the contest has ended, you may draw the lucky winners (say three people from
those who have ‘liked’ your FB page) and giveaway the prize.
Once
you have published the giveaway event on your blog, it is time to spread the
word. If done the right way, you can expect a big spurt in traffic to your blog
and to your Facebook page as well.
More blog
contest ideas.
I only gave an example of what a blog
contest is. If you spend time to read blog contests announced in the place
mentioned above, you will get inspiring ideas. Sky is the limit to be creative
with your giveaway event.
Where to
promote your blog contest?
Do
a ‘Google’ and it will reveal many blogs and websites that operate solely to
announce blog contests.
I
once published a blog post titled, ‘List
of Giveaway Sites’.
If
you are targeting Australians for your blog contest, go to this link: http://biggiveaway.com.au/
I have a page in Listly especially for Giveaway sites. View it by clicking on the link below.
62 places to list your giveaways.
View more lists from Malathy Badri
There are exclusive online directories
for announcing blog contests. Online-Sweepstakes.com comes to my mind immediately
because it is very popular and heavily-trafficked directory of online
sweepstakes and contests.
ContestBlogger.com
Forums
are assured placed to get your blog contest noticed. They are constantly
watched by people like me waiting to grab some free lunch. (Smile) ContestBlogger.com
offers several forums for blog contests and online sweepstakes.
About.com Contests Forum
There
is a folder dedicated to sharing news and information about contests and
sweepstakes, including blog contests, in the About.com Guide to Contests forum.
SweepsAdvantage.com
Sweepstakes
Advantage boasts having the largest directory of free online sweepstakes,
freebies and contests. There is a special category for blog contests, and it's
free to register and submit your blog contests. Just select the "Add
Listing" tab in the left navigation bar. You'll be prompted to create a
new account if you don't already have one, and then you can submit your blog
contest free-of-charge. (Courtesy: about.com)
What
information is needed to submit to sweepstakes and giveaway directories and
blogs?
Your blog URL
The URL linking to the giveaway blog
post
The prize details
Contest start and end date
Can you get
a sponsor for the prize?
Yes of course but that depends on the popularity
of your blog, the niche of your blog and the nature of the prize.
