I have watched this like 5 times already and I still can’t stop laughing. The Japanese guy in the grey sweater definately has the worst luck ever.
Bonus points for anyone who knows who the black guy is
*Update - Too Late…I figured out it is Ernesto Hoost
Probably one of the best tools a website owner has when it comes to promotion is the giveaway, yet so many people do it wrong it is painful. Rather then going on and on about the many intricacies of successful contests, I am just going to hit on a few points. If it proves interesting I will go more in depth at a later date.
Give Away Related Product
Don’t be tempted by the current trend to give away the latest and greatest toy such as an I-Pod to bring in people. Running a successful contest is truly about quality over quantity. If you sell baby clothes, what good is it to you to have a bunch of 16 year old males signing up for your contest if their is no way they will ever make a purchase. Always remember that the main objective is to increase the bottom line. The other side of that coin is that you most likely can get better value for your money as you will be able to get your prizes wholesale rather then paying what the average punter does
Collect Marketing Material
Try to collect as much information as possible from your entrants. A simple email address is fine if you are giving away a $5 prize but if you are putting up a signifigant prize, don’t be afraid to require an address or even have them answer some questions. I personally find contest where only an email is required useless as most people use fake addresses. Although you may catch a few later with a newsletter shot, the conversions are fairly low. My favourites are to have people write 50-100 words to enter which can be a Testimonial if they are an existing customer, a review if they have bought one of your products elsewhere, or something similar. What ends up happening is you get great honest content for your site for free.
Keep It on the Up and Up
This ones a big one as I know of a lot of contests I have seen where I am convinced no prize ever goes out. Use the opportunity to announce winners and get a comment from them once they use the product. Don’t be tempted to give it away to a made up person or just never end the contest. It sounds like common sense but this happens way too often and can hurt a business
These are only a few brief points as there is so much to running a great contest. I also talked only about running your own contest. One of the basics of PR work is to offer up prizes to magazines to give away. Many times you can get $1000’s worth of advertising nearly for free if you do it right. Again, even with those types of contests there are a lot of Do’s and Don’ts.
I am going to have a party at the weekend and I have started putting together a song list while downloading from allofmp3. I have a pretty extensive library already but I want to know if anyone has any suggestions for the best songs to add to it. I have both a “Fast” and “Slow” volume going so make sure to specify which your choice is.
Feel free to make multiple suggestions and if anyone comments a truly great party song I missed, I will send them one of the Shoemoney shirts I have left. If you don’t know what that is, I will send you something else I have laying around.