One way I have noticed that bloggers are getting more subscribers is by giving out cash and prizes. Most people will take anything they can get for free even if it they have to do something to have a shot at it. There are a lot of scams out there so you should always make sure that you never have to pay anything to enter otherwise there might have be a chance you are being ripped off.
What made me think of this was when I came along the blog Big Marketing Online. Jason Henderson, the owner of the blog, is giving away over $40,000 in cash and prizes. All I have to say is that is a whole lot of money! He already has 12,000 some subscribers and will surely be way above that after this contest.
I probably don’t even have to call it a contest because all you have to do is subscribe by e-mail to his blog. Then you have the chance to win. You want to make sure to subscribe by e-mail so that he is able to get ahold of you if you do win. The one question I would have though is how he got all this money worth of cash and prizes. Was he able to get that many sponsors when he only has 12,000 subscribers? Is he putting his own money in? There are a lot of questions to be answered here but as of now it looks like it will be a pretty successful choice for Jason.
With that, I want to let you know that I will be holding my own contest coming soon. As of right now I have too many other things that I’m doing for this blog. Just remember, contests and free giveaways are good ways to get more subscribers and traffic to your blog.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Doesn’t giving out money go against the whole idea of making money off it? I mean, okay, it’s not a problem if you profit somehow, but on a blog… it comes across as so trivial.
I’ve held contests before without having to give out money — granted, I gave out commissions instead (which cost money), but you get the idea. It only cost me my time and it kept out anyone who was just in it for the money.
I know what your saying. Giveaways have always brought loads of traffic to my other blogs. Better than paying for advertising that doesn’t always work. Other bloggers tend to write aboutyour giveaway. So you get backlinks also.
Great posts thus far – I read through them all and you’re on the social marketing edge I can tell! Looking forward to the update on the digg experiment and yes, cash prizes bring the masses – but perhaps the quality is lower for a simple signup contest.
I’d argue that a contest that has some sort of prerequisite for winning that gets the community involved in the website itself – is a better idea, both for content and creating an environment that readers will want to come back to.
Great post! I continue to see more and more blogs with even bigger and bigger prizes. Though, I have always been a little skeptical about blogs that continue to give things away. First, I think how in the world does this blog that was either just started or this person have the money to just throw away on giving it away. But, than I have to think what in return are they getting or how in the world are they making there money back.
I still really don’t understand or see how people are making there money back…but I will be the first one to admit it works in driving tons of traffic to your site.
I just recently gave away a $10 starbucks gift card and had over 500 unique visitors per day for the week I ran the simple contest at http://www.evanpangburn.com
So trust me it does work!
Thanks for listening and I will have to go check out Big J’s site now!
Eric
Erics last blog post..$200 For Being a Commentator It’s Just That Simple – Keep it SEO Simple
You bet it works – as I can attest. The tricky part, and maybe Eric can attest to this, is keeping a good proportion of those people once the contest ends and there is no longer anything to compete for. Certainly, you will never keep everyone. But if your sudden influx of visitors suddenly disappears once the prizes are awarded then, well, I hardly see the benefit. That’s why I like the idea of requiring participants to add themselves to your email list or subscribe to your feed. An extra hook to keep them attached to your site. I may try something like this next month but I do not have an e-mail list. Any good *free* list software that you can recommend?