I was flipping through Flipboard, like I do all the time when I have a few minutes to spare,and I started thinking about how more and more giveaways are getting more and more ridiculous.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I love a good giveaway, like all of you. I’ve had some good giveaways. I have stopped doing them for the time being because a) I had a few sponsors not follow through on delivering prizes and b) it just started taking up way too much time.
This is what I mean:
The ones where a million bloggers get together to offer an iPad, or cash, or whatever it might be and for your mandatory entry you have to like every single one of their Facebook pages AND (or) follow all of their Twitter accounts.
I have decided, I don’t care what the prize is, I am not filling up my Facebook with pages I could care less about or clutter up my timeline on twitter. If I’m following you on Twitter, it’s because I actually like what you post. I hope if you’re following me, that is the reason that you do so.
You know one blogger (out of many) who I think does it right?
I’m pointing him out because I just entered his iPad 3 giveaway. Mandatory entry? Tell him where you are entering from. Full disclosure here. I already got my entries for that post, just showing you a giveaway that I thought was easy and fabulous. Does he have the option to like FB pages and follow twitterers? Yes. Extra entries.
I just am starting to wonder if we really need to make our readers do all of that hoopla to get higher stats for a month or too, and maybe have a couple of them stick around. I want you hear because you like reading my posts, but that’s because my blog is primarily my journal.
I’m also wondering how much hate I’ll get from my fellow bloggers justifying the way they roll out giveaways. I get it, I do. I’m not singling any of your giveaways out. You roll out your giveaways the way you do, others do it the way they do it. It’s all about the stats, about increasing your numbers to attract more PR. Honestly, I understand. I chased the stat monster for a couple of years too.
So to those bloggers, I am sorry if my post offends you, but I truly want to hear from the readers, those who enter the giveaways. Do you like those giveaways that require you to do so much just to enter the giveaway? Or do you prefer the easy entry, answer a simple question or enter your email address or follow the sponsor on Twitter type of giveaways. Or do you not care. There obviously are a lot of people who don’t mind (possibly enjoy?) these type of entries, because they usually are high entry giveaways.
I’m just thinking of the old fashioned sweepstakes. There are lots of people who avoid blog giveaways like the plague because they don’t want to jump through hoops to enter. Simple enter your name and address and you win are the ones they want to see.
I do know that my next giveaway is going to be simple. It’s coming up next month and is sponsored by me for a company where some of the proceeds go to a charity I support. You have my word that the mandatory entry will be simple. There will be extra entries, not a ton, but a few, but for those who like to keep it simple, that first entry will be easy peasy.
Leave me your thoughts. What is your favorite type of giveaway? What makes you jump through all those mandatory entry hoops if you do those kinds? What causes you to skip over a giveaway that interested you enough to visit it to begin with?
Have a great day!
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and I will share my thoughts with you on this heartwarming book with you tomorrow. In the meantime, I wanted to share this post that Frank Zaccari wrote for us over here at Not Everyone’s Mama!
Real Moms Love to Eat: How to Conduct a Love Affair with Food, Lose Weight and Feel Fabulous
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