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As someone who both enters and hosts blog giveaways, I find the same questions keep coming up. I’m excited to see that some of my friends and family and giving blog giveaways a try. I know there are still more out there that want to enter but find it confusing.
BASICS
Number one most important thing, read the rules. Each blog giveaway will have it’s own set of rules for entry. Some examples you might want to look for
—Is this giveaway open to my county or my state/province?
–Am I old enought to enter? (some giveaways may require an entrant to be over 18, 21 yrs or older, etc.)
–What do I have to do to make sure I’m in and qualified for the entry?
–What form of contact info do I need to leave so the host can contact me if I win?
Some giveaways might require a “mandatory entry”. Normally this entry must be completed to be qualified for the giveaway. This could be any number of things. For example: you may be asked to visit a website and comment on a product, like a facebook page, follow a person/company on twitter, leave a specific comment OR you may be able to pick and choose which entries you want to do. Always read through the rules.
There are a couple giveaways out there that may require you to be a blogger to enter. But, I’d say the majority are open to anyone. Most bloggers welcome both bloggers and non-bloggers alike. It’s always nice to see new faces and faithful readers alike. If you’re really not sure about a rule or how to enter try emailing the blogger or commenting to get your question answered. Bloggers want to help you have a good experience on their blog.
Some blogs may offer “bonus entries”. These entries are not mandatory. If you’ve completed the mandatory entry (assuming there is one) then you’re entered. Bonus entries can give you more chances at winning the prize.
SPECIFICS FOR ENTRIES
In this section I’m going to pose a question in some for of how I receive questions.
1. How do I “follow” a blog?
If the blogger does not specify how to follow it usually means through Google Friend Connect. If you look in my right hand column about 8 boxes down you’ll see a little blue button that says “Join this site” with a bunch of little pictures under it. Click on the “Join this Site” button. It will ask you how you want to join the site. You can use an account you already have through Google, Yahoo, twitter, AIM, netlog, or OpenID. In other words if you have a gmail account, you’re on Google+, Youtube, or any other google site, you will be able to sign in with Google.
Some may ask you to “follow’ through RSS feed or email subscription. They may either have a clickable link right there in the post to take you to where you should go or they may have a box somewhere on their page for this option. (Note: I made the words “RSS feed” above clickable so it will take your right to the RSS feed subscription sign up for my blog). For example: mine are to the right of this post 12th and 13th box down from the top. Just a note, if you follow through email subscription you will receive a notification to ask you to confirm your subscription in most cases. If you do not confirm your subscription you won’t be following.
RSS feed is a constantly updating “feed” of things that are being published on the site you subscribe to. when you sign up through RSS feed it will ask you which reader you would like to use. There are lots of readers to choose from depending on your preference: MyYahoo, Google, Newsgator, AOL, and lots more options for you.
2. I tweeted the giveaway, now how do I find the “tweet link”?
The tweet link will allow a blogger to go to your specific tweet if they need to verify the entry. This is a copy and paste of one of my actual tweets:
angiewith3 Angie Beechan
All my beauty lovers, cosmetics queens, make up junkies, and girly girls. Gonna have some giveaways coming up just for you
Each tweet will have a “time stamp” under it. In my tweet above my time stamp is “8 hours ago”. If you just tweeted it may take a second or two for the time stamp to show up. Also when it first shows up it will sometimes use the word “now” as the time stamp. You can click on “now” to get your tweet link. It will open you up to a page that shows only your specific tweet your’re trying to get the link for. Up in your web address bar you’ll see your tweet link. Copy this link and paste it into the entry area (either a comment, contest entry form, etc)
So if I click on my 8 hours ago time stamp used in the example above my tweet link looks like this:
http://twitter.com/#!/angiewith3/status/95928096066252800
3. I shared a link on facebook now how do I find my facebook post/status link?
Finding a Facebook post/status link is almost exactly the same as finding your tweet link. Here is a cut and past of one of my facebook status updates:
All my make up junkies. You might want to keep an eye on my blog. I have a couple beauty giveaways coming up in the the next 2 weeks
8 hours ago · ·
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2 people like this.
Again you click on the time stamp which again in my example is “8 hours ago”. Copy and paste to contest entry area. What should the link look like? Something like this: https://www.facebook.com/FFCandM/posts/262367347110194
Other Helpful Hints
Be sure to leave some way for the blog hosting the giveaway to contact you if you win. They may ask specifically for your email or a twitter ID may be acceptable. When you leave your email in a comment it’s best to NOT type it out like this: joeschmo@email.com instead space it and spell each section out like this: joeschmo at email dot com. This is a helpful hint to keep spammers out of your inbox.
Rafflecopter giveaway are a fairly new way of entering. They are sometimes easier. There will be a Rafflecopter form in the post. Click on the green button to complete that entry. Not sure what they are asking for? That’s ok just click on the more info link next to the green button to see exactly what they want you to do for the entry. Here is a rafflecopter form you can practice with if you like. This is just for practice. Don’t worry if you feel like you messed up.
You need javascript enabled to see this giveaway.
Another way to enter you might see is Google Doc forms. They are a kind of “fill in the blank” entry form. The positive to these is that no one sees that you entered except the blog posting the giveaway. But it also means you can’t see either if you can’t remember if you entered it or not. A hint I use, If you enter and want to come back for daily entries or just want to remind yourself you entered, leave a comment in the blog comments of that post like “thanks for the giveaway!” then you’ll be able to see your comment and know you entered.
Here is an example of a Google Doc Form. Again, if you want to practice with this one feel free. No one will see but me and i will not use your info for any purpose:
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Google forms can look differently. They might be right in the post or it might be a link that opens up a new page. They may be plain or designed.
Feel free to practice with any or all of these steps more than once if you like. Maybe you just want to learn the rafflecopter entry. Maybe you never tried a Google Doc entry. Maybe you’re new to entering giveaways and you just want to try it out with no pressure. “Enter” each one as many times as you like to feel comfortable.
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Great info. So many people need to see this, LOL.
Wow, very informative. Thanks, you are a pro!
Thank you for providing really informative articles on your blog. How can I share it on Facebook?