My First Blog Contest: Lessons-Learned
Posted by Amateur BlogsI’m running my first contest this month. To enter the contest you simply have to tell me how you think I should run my next contest (which will be held in January). Read more about the contest here: “Make Money by Giving My Money Away.” The deadline for entering this month’s contest is 12:00 midnight EST, December 31, 2007.
Since announcing the contest I realize I’ve made a few mistakes. Okay, I’ve made a lot of mistakes. The good news is I’ve outlined them below as blog tips. Experienced bloggers may read the list and think “duh” but honestly, these are things I learned after the fact. Let’s get started with the most fundamental lesson-learned:
Compile an Active List of Blog Contest Sites. I thought I’d bookmarked lots of contest sites but when I looked at my bookmarks I discovered that I’d only bothered to bookmark one site. So, I had to Google “blog contests” and put the list together on the fly. Here’s what I found:
Blog Contests
Blog Contest Site
Contest Beat
Contest Blogger
Laura Williams Musings
My Blog Contest
My Blog Contests
Give Your Contest a Catchy Name. Again, this sounds elementary but I didn’t do it very well. Sure, I’d written a post about my contest, but the post title “Make Money by Giving My Money Away” isn’t what you’d want to use for the name of a contest. Unfortunately, that’s exactly how my contest was “titled” at several sites.
You’re probably thinking “No problem. Just create a catchy name for your contest, contact the contest site owners, and get this fixed.” You’re right, I could do that but I’m not. After seeing how many mistakes I’ve made I’ve decided to use the contest as an experiment. I’m not going to fix anything but I’m going to keep a close eye on the amount of traffic the contest brings in. In January when I run the second contest I’ll follow all of my lessons-learned and compare traffic (and participation) for both contests. The prize for the second contest is better than the first but the difference is only $10. The traffic increase for the second contest (okay, I hope there’s a traffic increase) should be attributable to my application of the things I’ve learned.
Be Assertive. What you do after writing a post about your contest differs from what you’d do after publishing a regular post. When I write a post I usually submit it to Blogging Zoom (I love that site) and I might post it on Digg, but I always feel so guilty after doing that (the Digg part that is). I don’t “plug” my latest post at other people’s sites when leaving comments, I don’t send broadcast emails about my post to MyBlogLog community members, etc., etc.
If you’re a newbie blogger like me that has a fairly low traffic stream you’ve got to get out there and really advertise your contest. I probably should have submitted emails about my contest to my MyBlogLog community members. I definitely should have included a pitch about the contest at the end of my other posts.
Also, when promoting your contest you need to write copy that reads like a press release. I thought I could use the text from the post about my contest when submitting announcements to the contest sites. Actually that’s exactly what I did but the tone of my post was all wrong. In only one case was it appropriate to submit a contest entry written in the 1st person. I discovered this after the fact because I didn’t:
Read Through a Few Current Submissions at the Contest Sites. After I emailed the specifics of my contest to one site I discovered that the contest entries at that site all followed a specific format. Although I provided the required information I didn’t submit it in a manner that matched that site’s format, thereby placing the burden of making my entry “fit” on the site owner. Well guess what – because of volume, blog contest site owners don’t always have time to decipher entries. As a result, my entry on that particular site appears to be incomplete. It’s not, it’s just that the information isn’t in the right format.
To ensure you don’t make the same mistakes here’s a table outlining the submission procedures for the blog contest sites I used:
| Contest Site | Submission Method | Submission Format |
| Blog Contests | Online form | Contest URL, Contest Title, Tags, Description, Category |
| Blog Contest Site | Online form | Name, Email, Website, Subject (enter the URL to your blog contest’s post), Message |
| Contest Beat | Online form | Name, Email, Website, Subject, Message |
| Contest Blogger | Post your entry to one of their contest forums | Topic Name, Topic Message (allows html formatting) |
| Laura Williams Musings | Contest Link, Prize, How to Enter, Deadline | |
| My Blog Contest | Online form | Contest Name, Contest URL, Deadline, Prize, How to Enter, How to Win, Other Info. |
| My Blog Contests | Online form | Name, Email, Subject, Message |
And lastly,
Read What the Experts Say – Before Announcing the Contest. I recommend that you read 10 Great Contest Tips from Matt of Contest Beat and How to Run a Blog Contest from Jeremy of Shoemoney.com. Both articles contain valuable advice and great blog tips for running contests.
If you have additional blog tips for running contests or know of additional contest sites, please leave a comment.
Chanya,
I haven’t offered a blog contest yet but I have considered it. Documenting your experience is a big help for the rest of us. I am sure your January contest will go much more smoothly. BTW – I found you through BZ.
Neena: Yes, I hope others can benefit from my lessons-learned. Thanks for visiting!
I have run tow contest so far, so I am no expert. But I try to keep the contest length short about a week or so. Bloggers lose interest very quickly.
Good Luck!
Debo: Thanks for the advice – that’s another good tip for running contests.
I’ve noticed you aren’t using EntreCard. Why not, it free traffic?
Debo: I’ve really thought about it. I’ve read mixed reviews about the product.
Have you seen an increase in traffic with it?
Yes, there is the increase in traffic but that is about it. I know it is my responsibilty to convert traffic into what ever action I want them to take however folks are primarily visiting on a “drop your card” hunt and don’t bother to stop to leave a comment, let alone click on an ad of interest or book any travel etc. My bounce rate is through the rough so I need to figure out how to optimize the traffic now that I have it.
Do you have any recommendations? Anyone?
Debo their is nothing you can do. That is the flaw of banner exchanges that give credits for visiting each other.
Best of luck with your contest. Doing a BZ run.
Happy Holidays!
Vic