A question I have heard over and over during the past few years is: “How do I start offering giveaways on my blog?” I get the impression that many new bloggers think you must have a big blog or super secret sources in order to host giveaways on your blog.
Well, guess what? There is no super secret society one must be admitted to in order to run giveaways. Nor, do you need to have substantial traffic.
No matter the size of your blog, there are thousands of companies who would love to offer a giveaway to your readers. Seriously. And once you get started with giveaways, you’ll likely quickly find that there are many more opportunities than you have time and space for!
Here are four simple ways to get started offering blog giveaways:
1) Give something of your own away. When I was very new to blogging and didn’t know any better, I often paid for my own giveaways. In fact, I often gave away products that I personally owned and no longer needed.
While this is not the ideal, it is an excellent way to “get your feet wet” when it comes to giveaways. When you approach a company regarding running a giveaway (see next point), you’ll likely have better success in procuring a giveaway if you can show them that you’ve successfully run giveaways in the past.
If you use Swagbucks (and if you don’t, what are you waiting for?!), you might consider giving away a gift card you’ve earned through them. That way, it doesn’t cost you actual money out of pocket. And readers love gift card giveaways.
2) Approach companies and ask if they’ll run a giveaway. If you don’t have companies beating your door down to request that you do a giveaway with them, start getting proactive! Have a product or website that you love, write and ask them if they’d consider running a giveaway on your blog. It’s that easy!
Be professional, be concise, and make sure to clearly explain how running a giveaway on your blog would be a win for their company. I’d recommend that you share your blog stats with them, link to a recent giveaway you’ve run, and share why you feel their product or website is well-suited to your blog’s audience. In addition, I’d state upfront two ideas you have for a giveaway but also convey that you’re open to other ideas they might have.
3) Ask for a contact from another blogger who has run a giveaway. Has one of your blogging friends run a giveaway with a company that you think would also be a great fit for your blog? Ask them if they’d be willing to pass along their contact at that company to you.
Now, please don’t abuse this idea! Most bloggers are happy to share their contacts with you, but don’t expect or demand that they must share all their contacts with you as most bloggers work hard to establish relationships with PR and Advertising companies. But if they are willing to share, this can be a great way to get a direct contact for a person at a company or PR Agency which is likely interested in running giveaways on blogs.
4) Respond to a press release with a giveaway pitch. Once you’ve been blogging for a little while, you’ll often begin to receive press releases about new products from companies and PR Agencies. If you’re interested in the product and think it would be a great fit for your blog’s audience, consider writing back and pitching a giveaway. Companies are sending out a press release to garner buzz for their product, so they’ll often bite on a giveaway pitch.
Do you offer giveaways on your blog? If so, how do you get started doing so?
Crystal Paine (aka Money Saving Mom) is a child of God, wife, and homeschooling mom of 3 who never seems to win giveaways herself but who loves giving away thousands of dollars worth of stuff on her blog each year!
Photo Credit: Crafty Dame
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http://www.momondealz.com/2010/03/my-thirty-one-boardwalk-bag-giveaway.html
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I always send thank you e-mails to my PR reps after my giveaways, just to tell them how much I appreciate their hard work!
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Crystal @ Money Saving Mom Reply:
March 23rd, 2010 at 4:15 pm
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Great insight. Thanks for sharing! Mike and Lisa
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Crystal @ Money Saving Mom Reply:
March 23rd, 2010 at 4:17 pm
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Just look for PR information on their websites!
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Thanks again for your tips, have I told you that you are AWESOME!
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Now, it is a matter of getting poeple to leave comments to enter and win. I am Facebooking and Tweeting about it. Any other tips or pointers?
Check it out!
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(There is a giveaway currently on my blog, if you want to check it out. http://www.honeyandcheese.com/2010/03/23/giveaway-secrets-of-beauty/ )
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This post contains great advice!
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http://www.etsy.com/shop/mabelino
if you’re interested in doing a giveaway on my binders! already one successful giveaway through mrsmoneysaver
http://www.mrsmoneysaver.com/2010/03/mabelino-coupon-binder/
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Anita Smithson Reply:
December 30th, 2011 at 8:25 pm
Thank you so much
http://www.anitasmtihson.com
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Now we are trying to be sure we understand all the conventions about giveaways. Does anyone ever run into legal issues? For instance, do you have to limit your entrants to people in the US, or over 18 or anything? We have readers from other countries periodically, so I want to be sure we don’t do anything that could get us in trouble!
thanks!
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I’m running a giveaway on my blog, I LOVE WINNING, at the moment:
http://i-love-winning.blogspot.com/
Enter to win a $40 Coles Myer gift card!
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Thanks!
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I am not a lawyer and will not offer legal advise, however I do know there is a difference between a give away and a enter to win. If it is a true “Give Away” and stated as such, the only thing you need to do on your end is let everyone know your rules. If it is an” Enter To Win”, you must give details and disclaimers on the odds in chances to win. It’s all about the wording.
It’s always best do a search on legal disclaimers for give away and/or enter to win.
Hope that helps:) Great Post BTW.
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–Kaeli’s kiwis Reviews and Giveaways
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Just curious: is there a program you use to track the giveaway entries, or do you have to do it manually?
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Priya
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