So I've been putting some effort into entering giveaways and contests lately- ya- like everything else got a little lazy with it. And the world didn't come to an end. Imagine that. *grin*
Ugh is all I have to say. I've had some wins, and yes I will eventually update- probably- but for now, I'm kind of bummed again.
In some ways I think I sort of have a unique viewpoint coming into the game the way I did- as someone who enters contests, sweepstakes and giveaways first, then later getting into the review and giveaway aspect of things. So, you can trust me to tell you when something smells rotten in Denmark as they say. YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary) but for the most part, there are a few sponsors and bloggers who are taking advantage of you (and by that I mean those of us who enter the giveaways) or they are trying to, in my not so humble opinion.
For a mandatory entry- you have to blog about the giveaway with links back to the blog and the sponsor. And not just a blurb, but a separate post. And it has to be a certain length. Okay, let's break this down shall we. Blogger hosting the giveaway gets free product and / or monetary compensation and / or traffic to their blog for hosting the giveaway. Hosting blogger also gets traffic from every blogger who posts as well as an extra link to their giveaway. Good for hosting blogger. Company gets traffic from hosting blogger and from each blogger as well. Lots of PR, very little money- usually just a couple of products which we all know- not very expensive for company. Good for company.
Blogger trying to win- well, not so good. Sure you get a shot at winning- 1 in hundreds or 1 in thousands. I don't have a problem with extra entries, in fact there is a page on my site you can go to if you want them for most of the giveaways I host, but for the main one- yeah, I do have a problem when you are making it mandatory I do your work for you. Especially when you say I can't use your words- umm hello you want me to pitch a product I never received and use my hard won traffic ranking and link you and your sponsor to up your traffic & ranking for a one in thousands chance that maybe just maybe I'll get lucky this time? Why on earth would I want to do pretty much what you are doing minus the benefits? You got compensation but I only *might* win against at least hundreds but most likely thousands of other entrants? Yeah, that's fair.
I'm not dissing review & giveaway bloggers, heck, at times we are both, but there are opportunities I turn down because it just doesn't feel right. And while say winning a mattress or higher end vacuum would be nice- I don't think that it is right to make it mandatory that I post you on my front page where my readers have no choice but to see- some of my traffic is certainly for the giveaways, but much is not. I don't have a problem if I REALLY want a prize posting a blurb about your giveaway and links to both you and your sponsor on my giveaways around the blogosphere page, but I really don't think it is fair to ask for or expect a feature which is what a LOT of blogs are now wanting- and not always for high dollar prizes, I've seen it for a $25 GC as well.
If a company wants to give me a mattress set, I'm all about splashing you all over my social networks and promoting the heck out of you, and I will offer extra entries to others if they'd like extra chances but I won't say you can't enter if you don't have a blog with a certain number of readers or a twitter account with x number of followers or link my giveaway to your FB account, etc.. Those are great for BONUS entries, and really, I don't have a problem with that or any other hoops that I can choose to jump through or not, but the key word there is choose.
Another trend is having many many many bloggers post the same giveaway for a paltry number of prizes to be chosen among all blogs and the chance that the blog hosts could win one fairly decent prize. We're talking about the blogs getting to offer readers a chance to win a $20 to $50 prize here, not like the major appliances from a while back, and maybe 10 winners will be chosen from ALL the blogs- so that could literally be hundreds of blogs and only a handful of winners- and then one of those bloggers will win a few hundred dollars- now the blog chosen could either be random or the most entrants (which let's face it- there are only a handful who are not wasting their time if that is the case). Only one I see winning here is the company.
I know I have the choice to host or not, to enter or not, but I am genuinely curious as to whether this strikes anyone else as extremely unbalanced or do you just think- oh smart business going as cheap as you can with the adverstising?
I am at the point where I am seriously considering starting a blog strictly to post giveaways that I want extra entries for- honestly I would LOVE LOVE LOVE a decent mattress, I haven't slept well in forever as mine is ancient and I am stiff and sore all the damn time, but I don't want this blog to be all about other peoples content and giveaways. I'm all for sharing the love, but we're divas here, not gonna give y'all top billing. Just isn't gonna happen. ;-)
Oh- sorry, back on track- so that's my thinking- starting a new blog- which will get no time or anything at all it will strictly be for the extra entries- so no traffic, no page rank, no followers, but I won't mind giving you a blurb. Would you rather I did that- and you got a whole post dedicated to your giveaway, albeit one no one would ever see, or would it be better to have a blurb on my giveaway page- where people who actually give a crap about entering do go and look?
6 comments:
Give me a blurb on the giveaway page. LOL Great post! I completely understand your frustration. I have my other blog where I just post giveaways, but I don't count them as an extra entry because I read a blogger going off about it once (not about mine, but same point), scared me. LOL It's more for me to remember my daily tweets on. AND thanks for google following me!
I am totally with you. I would LOVE a new mattress too, but I'm not using my VALUABLE real estate to get it. And if you have the amount of traffic, followers, etc, then it is valuable!
I enjoy entering contests, but I don't like the jumping through hoops just to get an entry - and I really dislike being forced to follow a blog just to enter all your giveaways. I understand a giveaway here or there meant to reward your followers, but when it's every little contest? No way!
And I personally won't participate in those creative presentations or whatever they are called on my blog. It's not fair to my readers.
I'd go with the new blog, for what it's worth, and remind folks on here to check it out from time to time. The bloggers are still getting a link back, which should help with their google ranking?
BTW, when I say your up there, I mean the other bloggers, I know you don't do that. lol Sorry, it's late, this Mamma needs sleep! :)
Then, there's the contests/giveaways that say you can't enter their giveaway (or blog about it) if all your blog does is promote giveaways... So, what will you do in those cases? -- I "feel" your frustration, btw. :)
I won't do creative presentations anymore either, one they are too much work for the blogger, too much exposure for the company, one blogger usually gets the review, and just not fair to the entrants.
I also don't want to work with companies that expect anything more than a visit to their site and comment for the first entry. It's not fair to expect anything more. Lots of companies want people to sign up for their newsletters and I tell them it has to be optional. It has to be something I would feel is worthwhile if I was willing to enter the giveaway.
Companies are taking advantage of social marketing hands down!
Really, it kind of sucks. I didn't know this until just in the last couple of days. But there is/was a sponsor wanting a REQUIRED number of blog posts in order to offer their product for giveaway.
Now, this for me would be a hard choice. Because if the product is great, I DO want our readers to have a chance at it, that they otherwise may not have. If that makes sense the way I typed it.
However it's not fair to any involved. The blogger can't guarantee that X amount of people will blog about it, and link to the sponsor. And if there aren't X amount of blog posts for the company then they don't giveaway their product. Then both the blogger, and the reader lose. And the blogger runs a risk of having his/her name smeared.
I for one, would not take the opportunity. I would boldly turn them down, offer our standards and move on. Our readers mean a lot to us,and of course our site. And we don't want anyone to walk away short changed.
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