Running Contests
Contests are interesting and a fun way to gain visitors to your site. You benefit by getting hits, possibly sales, and other ways. Your visitors benefit by getting a chance to win the prize. There are several ways to run a contest.
There are many different kinds of contest you can choose to have. When choosing a contest think of who your target market is, think of something that would be fun, quick and easy for them to enter. Here are some examples of contest you could choose to have.
A) If you run a newsletter, you can offer a entry to your contest if entrants sign up for your newsletter. This is a good way to build your subscriber base. You would choose a winner by putting all names in a hat and drawing.
B) Choose a question and place it on your site. Have entrants answer this question, with a correct answer being their entry into your contest. If you have only 1 question then you would put all entrants names into a hat and draw a winner. If you have more than 1 question then the winner would be the entrant that got the most correct answers. In case of a tie breaker then you again would put the entrants with the top number of correct answers into a hat and draw a winner.
C) If you run a message board you could have post the most contest. The member of your message board that has the most post would be the winner. In case of a tie breaker then you again would put the entrants with the top number of correct answers into a hat and draw a winner. This contest is great for getting your board more active and getting more board members.
You have now picked out a type of contest to have, next thing in line is the prizes. You will need to decide if you want to be the contests sole sponsor or if you would like to accept prize donations. Both have their benefits, you just have to choose whats best for you at the time.
By being the sole sponsor, the contest prizes will only come from you, so you get the sole advertising from the contest. But at the same time you get all the promoting and marketing work that will need to be done.
By accepting prize donations, the $ value of your contest increases with each donation. You have partners helping you promote, advertise, and market the contest. Having several prizes makes it possible to have more than just 1 winner.
One thing that every contest needs is a set rules. You need these in case there is ever any confusion about you contest. You will want to make sure you cover the following things in your rules:
A) Age Restrictions
B) Location Restrictions
C) No Purchase Necessary - you definetly want this there, a contest is illegal if there has to be a purchase to enter
D) Privacy Policy - this could just state that you won't share their private information with anyone. Or if you are going to share it with the prize sponsors make sure that is stated clearly
E) When your contest starts and ends
F) How a winner will be picked
G) Entries void where prohibited by law
H) Number of entries a person/email/household allowed to enter
Next you will want to start promoting your contest. There are many places on the net to promote your contest. Remember the more entrants into your contest, the more visitors for you. You can promote your contest in the following ways:
A) Message Boards - If you are a member of a community on a message board, be sure to post about your contest in the appropriate place. People that know you are likely to enter you contest as long as they know about it. If you not a member of message board then join some, become a prominent member don't just post your ads. Here are 4 boards we are members of that have message board communities you can join:
1) http://tbadeals.us/forum
2) http://internetbasedmoms.com/bb
3) http://www.wahm.com/cgi-bin/Ultimate.cgi
4) http://dotcomwomen.com/forums/
B) Yahoo Groups - There are many yahoo groups that allow you to promote your contest. If you are already a member then remember to post about you contest on the days ads are allowed. If you aren't a member check out http://groups.yahoo.com there are many groups you could join that allow you to promote.
C) Your friends and family - Remember to tell all your friends and family about your contest. Be sure that it is ok to send them ads first, otherwise it could be considered spam
D) Contest Listings Sites - There are contest listing sites on the web that allow you to list your contest for free. Most do require a reciporcal link, but they are promoting your contest the link back shouldn't be any problem. Here are a few places that offer free contest listings:
1) TBA Deals - http://tbadeals.us
2) Cash Net Sweepstakes - http://www.cashnetsweeps.com/
3) Cyber Sweeps - http://www.cyber-sweeps.com/
Do a search on the net, for contest listings, there are many places to list your contest for free on websites.
E) Newsletters - If you run a newsletter be sure to place your contest information in your newsletter. There are also several newsletters on the net that will list your contest for free. Below are just a few we know of:
1) Mommy's Helper - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mommyshelper/
2) At Home Mommy's - www.athomemommys.com
3) Moms Market Online Ezine - http://www.momsmarketonline.com/Ezine.html
Its time to end your contest, you will need to pick the winner or winners. Notify the winner/s and the sponsors if you weren't the sole sponsor. Just have fun with contest and use your imagination.
____________________________Written by TBA. TBA stands for Tricia Billie and baby Ashley. We are a mother/daugther/granddaughter WAH team.