Giving things away can be a very effective way to generate traffic. It brings back visitors and customers who might have been slowly steering away. It also creates goodwill and happy users, and because everyone likes to link to a giveaway, it brings in new visitors as well.
There are two types of giveaways. The first, and most potent, is the type where you truly give something to every single user who stops by. This only works for digital downloadable goods because they cost nothing to distribute over and over; e-books, wallpapers, basic software, icon packs, and so on are all feasible options.
The second type of giveaway requires some sort of contest to sort out who gets the products and who doesn't. This can work for any type of item, whether physical or digital, because you have a limited number of winners. The simplest form of these giveaways is if you ask readers to leave a comment and you select randomly from them to determine the winners.
Naturally the more value you provide in a giveaway, the more interest you will generate from readers. This is why a complete giveaway of digital goods works so well because you are literally giving something for free to one and all. Consequently the value is high because everyone gets to participate.
Similarly, if the prize is large in a contest, or the number of items being given away is high, then there is more value in the giveaway. When you provide more value, you get more return on it. An amazing giveaway is far more likely to generate response and links, than something that no one really wants.
You don't always want to give away your own products. As publishers, we're in luck when it comes to giving things away. In fact if you have an audience, it can be quite easy to get other people to give you things to give away. This is because other businesses will want to use your outlet as a way of promoting their products. It's a fair deal. They get a form of advertising, you have a tool that helps generate traffic, and develop customer loyalty.
Most of the time, all you have to do to get some freebies to give away is to simply ask. That said, it's always good to have built up a relationship with someone before needing to ask them for something. In the world of the web, nine times out of ten, people only contact you because they want something. Ask yourself what you can do for someone now so that you can develop an acquaintance or business friendship of sorts.
Even if you are giving away someone else's products, there is still a price to pay for running a contest type giveaway. That price is your time. In particular picking winners, judging entries, contacting people, and organizing the delivery of prizes can be extremely time-consuming if you are not careful. If you've never run a giveaway before, it's always good to start simple.
Avoid giveaways that have an element of judging until you are more seasoned, as judging can be a very laborious process if you have a group of people who need to agree. Also avoid giveaways with too many winners or too many sponsors to liaise with. Start with just a couple of winners and a couple of sponsors so that you don't have too much communication to manage. In addition, if you are running a contest to give away physical goods, then avoid these pitfalls:
If you've ever tried posting a heavy book to the other side of the world you'll know that the cost of posting physical goods can sometimes be more than the goods themselves.
If you are giving away a major competition item such as an iPod, you should always consider that prices and availability vary around the world. If you have a reader in Mozambique win the prize, then you may have a lot more difficulties than you would if the winner was in New York.
Perhaps the most time-consuming task involved in giving away physical goods is going to a post office, wrapping and packing, finding the correct addresses, and actually posting off the prizes. If you have a lot of prizes to a lot of people, this can turn a small giveaway post into a large amount of work.
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02172011
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