Blog Paradise

* Blog Contests & Tips *


An iPod Touch, Anyone?

Written by Erz on Sunday, December 02, 2007

Want to win an 8GB iPod Touch? FileLime is giving away one to a lucky blogger who reviews their website and blogs about their contest. The post must be a minimum of 100 words with a link back to FileLime and their contest page. Then submit your entry via their form and you're in.

Contest ends 18th December 2007 and the winner will be randomly drawn. Good luck!

My review:
FileLime is a website which allows you to upload anything. They offer 150MB of free space, 5 multiple uploads, a progress bar uploader and even a direct link to your upload. I love the catchy name and the colors but the website itself is rather spartan. At first glance, I did not know what it was for and what it did until I saw the tagline "upload anything!" I think the idea is good as there is no signup/registration needed but a clearer explanation such as an "about us" section and FAQs would be most helpful. There should also be contact details to increase the credibility of the site. Putting too many ads on the homepage could also backfire. All in all, it seems like a good idea worth exploring but more needs to be done to increase the clarity and credibility of the site.

Win $85 Worth Of Prizes

Written by Erz on Sunday, December 02, 2007

Christmas season is here and Zentro is giving away around $85 worth of prizes plus you can get yourself or someone special some great Christmas gifts at cheap prices. Check out the contest post for full details.

Contest is open worldwide and ends 15th December 2007.

How To Hold A Successful Blog Contest

Written by Erz on Sunday, December 02, 2007

This article is part of How2Blogger’s Super Sexy Holiday ‘How To’ Contest which you can see at How2Blogger’s ‘How To’ site. You stand to win $100 in a random drawing. Contest ends 29th December 2007 so check out the contest post for full entry details!

So how do you hold a successful blog contest?

1. Open it internationally - How many people are there in the US versus the world? You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure that out. Don't get stuck in the mire. You may say that there are enough bloggers from the US for your contest to be feasible. True, but why stop there? If you can attract 100 US bloggers, there may be 1000 internationally-located bloggers you have excluded. And that is where things get murky. It is dangerous to exclude anyone! Instead of increasing the popularity of your site, it can work the other way. Imagine you are the one left out - you may form an impression that this site is only for people in the US no matter how relevant your content may be. And these people may NOT come back to your site and they may also tell others NOT to visit your site. Word-of-mouth can work both ways. You may not know it, but you may have just stabbed yourself in the back though your intentions in holding the contest were good!

2. Offer attractive prizes - That is not to say giving away a pencil is wrong. It is not. But if you want your blog contest to be very successful, you will have to dangle a bigger carrot. And your carrot should not be targeted at too specific an audience. Again, I am not saying that being specific is wrong. But to catch more fish, your worm should be pitched at a large audience so your prizes should be attractive to the masses.

3. Make it easy to enter - If you have too many rules or conditions for entry, it will make your blog contest less attractive, no matter how good your prize is. That's typical of human beings!

These are not exhaustive, nor are they radically new ideas, but these are 3 basic criteria which I believe in. While you may say that they are common sense, there are many contests which do not fulfil these criteria. So things may not be as straightforward as one may presume. A case in example is Problogger's recent wildly successful birthday giveaway. Look carefully and tell me if the giveaway fulfils these conditions. Then look at several contests which have fallen by the wayside. You judge for yourself.

DNXpert Giveaway

Written by Erz on Sunday, December 02, 2007

Yes folks, I'm back with all the best contests! Traveling was a blast but I missed giving you folks your daily dose of paradise! To kick things off, DNXpert is having a contest to give 5 lucky people an exclusive list of 200 expired domains each plus $10 each via Paypal so they can register at least one of those expired domains.

Contest ends 10th December 2007 and don't forget to leave a comment on the contest post as well. Good luck!

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