These days, it's hard to find a blog that isn't doing a giveaway.  For big brands and niche product merchants alike, giveaways can be the ultimate product placement.   This is especially true for mommy bloggers but all kinds of blogs can execute giveaways and execute them successfully.  I'm going to take you through the entire giveaway process from setting it up to execution.  Today you will learn how to go beyond the "leave a comment and I'll do a random drawing" to a giveaway that drives more traffic to both you and your readers and will make the company you're working with ecstatic about the buzz you've created for them.

SET-UP

First and foremost (and I know I'm stating the obvious here) you need to have something to actually give away.  So you know all those PR people you've been connecting with this week?  See if any of them would be interested in a giveaway.

Once you've got commitment of product, do not have them ship the product to you.  Ask for some images to use on your post, but once you've declared a winner, you can forward the winners contact information to arrange for delivery.  If it gets delivered to you, you'll incur the shipping cost to ship to the winner and leave a larger carbon footprint after needlessly having the product shipped twice.

LOGISTICS

Now that you know what you'll be giving away, it's time to plan your giveaway.  Make sure you follow each of the following steps to ensure a smooth and successful giveaway.

1. Determine a start and end time for your giveaway, you'll want to make this clear to manage participant expectations.


2. Select and sign up for a polling platform.  PollingDaddy is one I've used, but there are lots out there.  You can even create one with Google Docs. (More about how you'll use this poll later, I promise).


3. Confirm with your company contact the exact product you'll be giving away and if there are any limitations on the size, color, etc.

EXECUTION

OK, so now you're ready to roll.  Let's get started with your giveaway!Start a conversation with your readers about the product.  Is it a camera?  Ask them to post a picture on their blog related to a current event or something that is personal to them.  Is it a toy?  Have them write a blog post about what toys they already have that they could give to charity in exchange for the one you're giving away.   Either way, craft a question that they must answer in some form on their blog.  An example of how I did this is the Fall Fashion Find Challenge for the Flip I did in August.

Once they've completed the task have them link to their post in the comments section of your giveaway post on your blog.  After the deadline for the end of the giveaway has been reached, you're only half-way done.  Create a poll including each entry with the name of the entrant and the title of their blog post and open voting.  I recommend keeping voting open for just one or two days.

Doing your giveway in this manner creates a win-win-win situation for everyone involved.  Let me explain.

• THE COMPANY WINS because you've not only created a conversation about their product on your blog but on lots of other blogs too.  Who doesn't love that?


• YOUR READERS WIN because when visitors come to vote they're going to check out all the entries and by following this method, they'll be visiting each entrant's blog to do so.  This increases traffic to your readers who have entered the giveaway.  So while there might only be one winner of the giveaway, everyone wins as a result of the increased traffic.


• YOU WIN because you've created an interactive conversation that requires repeat visits not only from people voting, but coming back to check to see who is in the lead.  Plus, you've made both the company and your readers happy as well.  Talk about lovefest!

As soon as your voting deadline occurs (you'll want to schedule it at a time you'll be available to close out the contest) you'll want to announce the winner immediately, get their email address, and send it to the company to arrange delivery with the winner.   Ask the winner to let you know what they think of the product after they receive it and to check in with you if they have any issues receiving their prize.  This is just a good thing to do out of courtesy for the winner and the company.  If for some reason there's a disconnect between the two you want to help resolve it.

So, I bet you can guess what your homework is going to be.

YOUR HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT

Today I want you to host a giveaway on your blog using the guidelines I provided.  I want to see some creative, thoughtful, and fun giveaways!  Once you've posted your giveaway, please leave a link to it in the comments here.  Participate in other #15Days participants' giveaways too.  We're all here to support each other.  If you're having trouble connecting with a company to work with, leave a comment here letting readers know that you're looking to run a giveaway and some information about your blog.

If you are participating in #15days as a store owner or entrepreneur with a product or service, check out the participants in the comments sections and select one today a giveaway for you!

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