@shantelturner-collins I agree with giving away free gifts as long as they are of value

@shantelturner-collins I have done a few giveaways on my blog.  One was for a nice desktop computer that brought in some amazing traffic, but it was mostly people who just wanted to win a computer – they were gone as soon as the contest ended.  

There are two things to keep in mind with giveaways.  The first is to make sure the product you are giving away will give you repeat traffic, not just a big burst for the contest and nothing more.  Like companies that giveaway iPads – unless your blog is about iPads and tablet computing, those visitors are probably going to be gone later.

The second is just an article about bloggers and giveaways / sweepstakes (http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com/digital-marketing/sweepstakes-contests-bloggers/) which discusses the legality aspects of giveaways.  I knew Facebook had rules about contests, but apparently there is a bigger picture for any kind of giveaway, whether it’s on social media or a blog.

I give useful content to authors on my blog, but I also promote authors, bloggers useful to authors, and clients on my blog.  I have two clients launching books at the end of the month, so I set up rafflecopter contests on their blogs and Facebook pages to get help from entrants to promote their launches.  The entrants have to do one task as an entry, but for every task they do they get more entries to the contest.  The prizes are nice and worth it.  It is a win win, because the authors get help promoting their book launch, they get traffic to their blogs and  Facebook Pages, an audience for their books,and  they will get some branding.  The entrants get chances to win great prizes  Have a look at http://www.facebook.com/ourmothersrecipes and http://www.ascensionforyou.co.uk/blog.  This would work for other types of promotions as well.

@kristi-hines

That article you posted just scared the hell out of me.

I was just about to contest for my blog. A relevant product, not expensive. I just really wanted to give my readers something of value.

I wasn’t aware that doing contests was so complicated! Sheesh!