I'm not a blogging "maven" nor am I a social media expert. But I am an active sweeper meaning that I enter A LOT of giveaways. I think that gives me a teensy bit of credibility on the topic of organizing a giveaway. I hope this article is received with the love and sincerity that it was written.
I've seen many changes in the social media giveaway landscape since I started entering them more than three years ago. Most recently, giveaway hops and widgets like Rafflecopter have exponentially increased the reach of blog-hosted contests. More bloggers are hosting giveaways because it's easier to attract entrants and easier to host. This is a good thing. The bad thing is that giveaway posts are getting a little, um, sloppy.
I find myself frustrated lately at the lack of simple organization and the proliferation of errors in the giveaways I try to enter. I could overlook it if these were isolated incidents, but it seems to be an epidemic! So, I decided to speak up, to offer some friendly advice, and hope that bloggers read this and make some changes before we all suffer:
The Devil is in the Details. The 4 Ws (Who, What, When, hoW) are a good place to start. Please make sure you cover these little details in the body of your post. Who is the sponsor/who can enter? What is the prize? When does the giveaway end? How does one enter? Also, provide some information about the prize. I cannot tell you how many times I've seen a giveaway for a prize from a name I've never heard of and there is no description, not even a link to a spotlight post. Sometimes I Google it, but most times I skip it. Oh, and a picture would be nice.
Be Kind to Your Audience. Pop-ups are annoying. I hate scavenging for the close button on a pop-up ad or trying to minimize those social media button toolbars that are blocking the entry form. Sometimes I don't try. I just leave the blog. The same goes for the type and number of entries. I know as bloggers you want to get as many new fans/followers/subscribers, but you cannot force someone to become a loyal reader. Please stop with the mandatory email subscription! In addition, if you ask entrants to leave a blog post comment, please turn off your captcha/word verification. On that same note, if you moderate comments you need to check your spam folder to make sure entries aren't being disqualified because your filter is eating up the comments. It shaves precious seconds when you are trying to complete as many giveaways in a hop not to have to jump through hoops to make sure your comment went through. Speaking of which, be considerate of your fellow bloggers in the hop. Don't be an entry hog. It's really unfair to have 20 or 30 different entries for one giveaway. Other giveaways want some love too. I run giveaways, and I just reassessed my entries and decided that asking people to vote for my blog on a directory is not productive (I'm never going to be #1, so who am I kidding?!). I also all removed bonus entries that were not related to running the giveaway or improving my blog's influence.
Check Your Work. Remember when you took a math test in elementary school and when you went to turn it in your teacher asked if you checked your work? That is a life lesson that applies here. Broken links, Facebook error messages, tweet posts that aren't set up correctly are all examples of bloggers not checking their work before posting a giveaway. Please test your links and the entries on your form to make sure they work! If you are using Rafflecopter, learn how to use it. Did you know that you can create hyperlinks in an entry using HTML? It saves sweepers a lot of time! For example, if I want an entrant to visit the sponsor site, I would select "Choose Your Own Task," changing the title to "Visit Sponsor Site." Then using brackets for the anchor text and parentheses for the URL, I would provide the link to the sponsor page: [Visit Sponsor Page](www.examplesite.com). The brackets and parentheses must be next to each other, no spaces. Ta da! No more need for me to to cut and paste or Google a page.
Give Sponsor Love. This should go without saying, but I've seen the lack of sponsor love on enough giveaways to see it as a growing issue. I've actually had sponsors require that their company/product get top billing, so they are noticing too. At a minimum, there should be a backlink to your sponsor's website in your post. Then there should be entries to follow their social media pages. These entries should come first and not be buried under an avalanche of entries directed at your blog. After someone has followed you on Facebook, Twitter, BlogFrog, and StumbleUpon, given you Klout, written you an Alexa review, etc...they might be too fatigued to pay any attention to the sponsor, and that would be a crying shame. After all, they are putting up the prize and probably provided you with product too. If you are unsure what the sponsor wants, just ask.
Okay, so that's it. I'll get off my soapbox now. Please share, Stumble, tweet, pin, etc...if you found this article useful! Speaking of StumbleUpon, please don't ask entrants to Stumble your giveaway. People hate to stumble upon an expired giveaway.
If you are a parent, you've heard the brouhaha over Katy Perry's guest appearance on Sesame Street. It started when this video was previewed on YouTube:
Irate mothers (I assume they were mothers because what hot-blooded male would object to Katy Perry?) contacted PBS and complained that Miss Perry's outfit was too revealing. They did not want their children to see that much cleavage (the violence in their video games is OK, but that is a different post). Sesame Street succumbed to the pressure and pulled the plug on the episode.
Before I state my opinion on this unfortunate event, I want to make it known that I personally do not like Katy Perry's style of bubblegum pop. The fact that I am not a fan of her music uniquely qualifies me to to enter the fray because I do not take what happened to her as a personal attack. I am also not getting up on my soapbox to defend her honor. I am defending something else called common sense.
I watched the video before the storm broke. I did not think Katy's outfit was racy. I did not find her cleavage offending. We all know Katy Perry's cups overfloweth and maybe that's the root of this whole controversy. Raise your hand if you know at least 5 moms who complain about their sagging boobs? Don't most, if not all women, wish we had full, bouncy breasts like Katy Perry's?
So there you have it...Mom with droopy breasts + Katy Perry's perky bosom in her face=misplaced righteous indignation. That's right! I'm calling out the little green monster, and I am not talking about Oscar. Sesame Street's decision not to air the episode troubles me for another reason. I am worried about what it teaches little girls about body image. Does this not reinforce the misogynistic attitude that the female body is something to be ashamed of?
Besides, there are more important battles to be fought concerning boobs like breast cancer...um, hello!
So, let me know what you think about this firestorm...
Footnote: Kat Perry went on to spoof the whole controversy on Saturday Night Live wearing a tight Elmo tee cut down the middle of the neckline. She and her sweater puppies are doing just fine.
"They" being the Corn Refiners Association. "They" decided to pay some high-priced Mad Men agency to create this television ad:
The first time I saw it I thought it was a spoof like those cigarette commercials by truth. Then I realized that "they" were serious after I watched it air at least once a day. I just had to pull out my soapbox and start preaching.
Of course, "they" are free to put out an ad extolling the virtues of high fructose corn syrup. But "we" consumers don't have to buy the b.s. My main problem with this false advertisement is the assertion that high fructose corn syrup is fine in moderation. Point taken. But here is the counter point. IT'S IN EVERYTHING! And I mean anything that uses sweeteners to mask the dull taste of processed, engineered and junk foods...
fruit juices
breakfast bars
jams and jellies
pancake syrup
ketchup
sauces
cookies and crackers
ice creams and sorbets
soda
fruit cups
It's even some quote, healthy food, unquote such as...
a very popular brand of yogurt
salad dressings
bread
"healthy" breakfast cereals
childrens' medicines
applesauce
Check the labels of the brands you purchase for high fructose corn syrup content. You and your family might be getting more than a moderate portion.
Relationships supposed to be give and take, right?
Then why I do I always seem to be stuck on the giving end with a whole lot of taking going on. I am surrounded by selfish people. The kind who only come around when they want something. All of them want a piece of me. The constant barrage is stressful and draining. Sometimes it feels like I'm being bled bone-dry.
Oh, I've wised-up. I've learned to say no. The selfish people don't like that word. They will use other means to try and get what they want like the guilt trip. I don't I fall for it, but it makes me mad that selfish people will resort to emotional manipulation to get their way.
For once I'd like to be on the receiving end of some good, old-fashioned giving and not the kind where someone offers you something under the pretense of giving, but then it turns out they have ulterior motives. I am talking genuine giving...no strings attached, no quid pro quo, no reciprocity.
Do you give with no expectations of anything in return?
I never understood why some parents are so neurotic until I started paying attention to commercials for baby products. You know the ones with the perfect babies...plump, flawless skin, head full of hair, rosy red cheeks, eyes that twinkle and wide smiles sporting at least two front teeth. They are also perfect babies because their mommies use Brand X baby food and diapers. The subliminal message being that your baby will be perfect too if you just use this lotion. I hate this one most of all...
So if I just bathed my baby in Johnson's Bedtime Bath that she will peacefully drift to sleep at night without engaging in her usual fight to the death? I better run out and buy me some of that!
We watched Zombieland on DVD last weekend. It's a good movie, funny and poignant. Woody Harrelson turns zombie-slaying into a fine art and his sidekick is a hilarious, neurotic geek who becomes a hero. Plus there is a surprise cameo by a star comedian that kills. I won't spoil it for you. Go rent the movie! Now onto to my thoughts on zombies...
My mistake was watching the movie before going to bed. I dreamed that zombies were attacking the city, but the three of us managed to get away in our car. Along the way Damon got hold of a CB radio and heard a message inviting anyone who was alive to take refuge a military base. So we go there, but it is a trap set by half-zombies who still had enough human intelligence to trick people into becoming their next victims! We start running back to our car, but a hybrid zombie tackles me and bites me. I tell Damon to take Marlie and get out of there. I cry as I watch them escape because I know I will never see them again.
I wait to become zombie food, but they don't try to eat me. The hybrid zombie leader tells me that they are trying to save people by biting them so they can become half-zombies. He explains that full zombies don't mess with half-zombies, only full-humans (I was confused in my dream, too). For some reason in my dream, I am a biologist and I come up with this brilliant theory that if a bite from a zombie turns you into a zombie, then the reverse must be true. I tell the hybrid zombie leader that they can become full humans again if they bit the zombies! The rest of my dream consists of proving the theory, fighting our way through a pack of full-zombies into a radio station tower to broadcast the news, saving humankind, and reuniting with my family. This would make a good movie don't you think?
I have been analyzing this dream to death (ha!). I think I have a subconscious fear of dying before I get to see Marlie grow up. What do you think?
