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How To Run A Contest?

by matthewd
8 replies
I am wanting to sponsor a contest at one of
the big blogs in one of my niche markets.

But I am not too sure how to run a contest,
so I was seeing what the best way is?

I am planning on giving away something pretty
appealing to this market, but I just don't really
know how to structure in the sense of getting
the people to my site and on my list.

Does anyone here have some experience with
sponsoring a contest?

If so, how did you set it up to get the traffic to
benefit you instead of just the blog?
#contest #run
  • Profile picture of the author JustinBrooke
    I'm wondering why not just run the contest yourself
    if you have an attractive enough prize and then ask
    the big boy if he'd like to contribute and get more
    exposure. But anyhow...

    If you can somehow make the contest terms like they
    have to twitter about your site as part of the contest
    then that would get you some traffic.

    Hit me up in gmail chat and tell me more about the
    contest and I'll help you figure out how to spin it.

    I've run several contests this year and they are super powerful
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    Justin Brooke

    FREE: spreadsheet of 182 traffic sources (no opt-in)

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    • Profile picture of the author Ghalt
      I'd like to follow-up on this question.

      I have a client who has a product site. She is looking to do two things:

      1. get people to write testimonials
      2. get people opted in to her list.

      I thought that a contest would be a good idea to do both, but I have no experience in running a contest. She is willing to give away one of her products (about $100 value) to the winner.

      I'm interested in things like:

      a. the legalities - I assume there are laws about running the contest, disclosures, etc.

      b. tracking. Wading through testimonials, posting them online, and rewarding the best (or one drawn at random?) Seems pretty easy to track. Tracking people who get other people to sign up seems more difficult.

      Thoughts?
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  • Profile picture of the author Jacer
    It all depends on what you want as the end result. Are you looking for blog traffic? Have them post a comment to enter. Building an email list? Have them opt-in for their entry.

    Like Justin mentioned, I would host on your site, and ask bigger names to contribute. Those that contribute will naturally help by talking about it on their site.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ghalt
    If the desired result is a qualified opted-in email list, it seems to me that I can offer a prize like a random drawing for anyone who signs up in a given time period.

    But how do you movitave people to REFER other people? In other words, how do you structure it so that the person who refers the most people gets the prize?

    Wait...light bulb just went on. Duh. I guess I could have an extra field on the sign-in form of 'Referrer's Email Address', and tally the number of signups from each referrer email. Like a 'promo code', but using the person's email address so I don't have to create/manage any type of affiliate signup.

    That way people can spread the word on their own networks, like, say, Facebook, telling all their friends, "go signup for this, and use my email address as the referrer, I'm trying to win a blahblahblah".

    It just...might...work!
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    • Profile picture of the author moneyblogger1
      Why not dedicate a specific squeeze page to each person. Then the person with the most unique visitors to "their" squeeze page wins the prize. You can track it all with google analytics

      Originally Posted by Ghalt View Post

      If the desired result is a qualified opted-in email list, it seems to me that I can offer a prize like a random drawing for anyone who signs up in a given time period.

      But how do you movitave people to REFER other people? In other words, how do you structure it so that the person who refers the most people gets the prize?

      Wait...light bulb just went on. Duh. I guess I could have an extra field on the sign-in form of 'Referrer's Email Address', and tally the number of signups from each referrer email. Like a 'promo code', but using the person's email address so I don't have to create/manage any type of affiliate signup.

      That way people can spread the word on their own networks, like, say, Facebook, telling all their friends, "go signup for this, and use my email address as the referrer, I'm trying to win a blahblahblah".

      It just...might...work!
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      • Profile picture of the author Ghalt
        Originally Posted by moneyblogger1 View Post

        Why not dedicate a specific squeeze page to each person. Then the person with the most unique visitors to "their" squeeze page wins the prize. You can track it all with google analytics
        Maybe I'm missing something, but I'd have to setup a new page for each person participating in the contest. That would be dozens and dozens of pages, setting up new ones each day. No thanks.
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  • Profile picture of the author newbim
    I saw a contest done on Twitter (for example) where the guy was offering a copy of his new product, and said that in order to win a copy of it, all you have to do is copy this phrase and, tweet it.

    He then ran a search for the exact phrase and picked a winner at random.

    Hope this helps.

    Good luck with it.
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    If what I said helps, let me know, throw me a 'thanks'.
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    • Profile picture of the author JennSpencerIM
      I'm looking to run an opt-in contest like this...think there is anything legal I need to be concerned with? I read on a blog post elsewhere that there are a lot of legalities about contest from state to state and now I'm concerned. (I'm usually over cautious so maybe that's all.) Anything I need to know or can I just go ahead and do it?

      Contest is for opt-ins for a 3 week period and winner chosen at random to receive free course and gift card; total value is $100.

      Thanks!!
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