Blog contests are an easy way to get your blog out there. But what if you don't have anything to give away?
Well, let me tell you a little secret:
- You can get free stuff from companies to give away.
In the past, I have given away many great products related to my industry as giveaways. Some of these prizes have had blog sponsors, and some have been sponsored directly by me.
In today’s post, I’m going to share some methods you can use to get free premium products for contests and giveaways for your blog.
To run a giveaway on your blog, you can use Gleam , which is the most popular giveaway tool out there. Here’s a detailed tutorial on running a contest with Gleam .
When you organize a contest on your blog, always have a goal in mind. For example, you can focus on attracting more email subscribers, Facebook fans, or Google Plus contacts.
Social media is constantly changing and evolving, and with social media now having such a large impact on search engine results, my advice would be to optimize your contests and giveaways to attract more email subscribers or Google Plus followers to your blog. This will most likely be in your best interest in the long run.
You can start a contest with any amount of money and prizes. If you have money, an iPad is always a good choice. Otherwise, you can start with something simple and cheap, like a domain name or hosting* (if you work in the blogging/WordPress field).*
Technology bloggers can organize software or other technology-related contests.
Fashion bloggers can organize clothing giveaways.
Pet bloggers can host a contest for dog grooming products.
No matter what your niche is, you can find relevant products to use in contests and giveaways. Anything you give away is good. It really doesn’t matter.
I'm sure I don't need to explain to you the power of this word:
- Free!
Now let me tell you my marketing strategy, how to find sponsors, and how to give away great products for free.
Get Free Blog Sponsors for Your Next Blog Contest
1. Affiliate Marketing
This works well for me. If you’re in affiliate marketing , you probably get at least one promotional email (coupon code, etc.) every month. This is the first place I look for sponsors.
I am a member of most premium WordPress theme clubs and bring in good sales every month. So if I believe a chance to win a free trial of a product or service would be helpful to SidelinePlay readers, I would contact the affiliate manager and ask that company to sponsor the contest.
In my email proposal, I make sure to explain how their company will benefit from the results of the contest, and make sure to remind the affiliate manager that I am generating significant sales for their company. (Note: there is no harm in asking them to sponsor your contest even if you don’t make any sales!)
I also make sure to include stats from my blog to give them an idea of the audience they’ll be reaching when sponsoring my contest or giveaway.
But again, you don’t need to have a SidelinePlay-level blog to achieve this. Ask an affiliate manager and see what they say.
2. Contact form (direct email)
If you are not involved in an affiliate program (as mentioned above), you can write an email to the owner of the company you are promoting and tell him/her that you are organizing a contest and would like them to sponsor it.
Many times these emails go unnoticed, but you never know. If you write a particularly engaging email, there’s always a chance you’ll get an immediate response.
Check out: 6 Mistakes to Avoid When Marketing to People via Email
My sample email looks like this:
Hi Mark,
I'm Forrest from SidelinePlay.com and I'd like to take two minutes of your time to introduce you to a possible marketing partnership. I run a niche blog (SidelinePlay.com) where I discuss blogging, WordPress, and MMOs.
I took a close look at your gallery of premium themes and I’m sure my readers would enjoy learning more about your themes.
I'm celebrating the 6th anniversary of my blog and was wondering if you would be willing to sponsor a premium theme or (xxx) as a giveaway.
By the way, SidelinePlay is an award-winning blog with over 500,000 readers. By sponsoring this contest, your product will receive significant attention from another segment of potential buyers.
We’ve run several giveaways before, here’s how we organize our contests (you can reference previous contests here):
- Link 1
- Link 2
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
greeting,
Forrest Pykes
This is just a sample email, feel free to modify it to suit your needs.
Create a list of possible blog sponsors and manage this list in an Excel sheet.
Maintain the following lines:
- Company Name
- contact person
- Follow-up Action 1
- Follow-up Action 2
- …etc.
3. Buy cheap and give away
I know this is a guide on how to get stuff for free, but if you want to host a giveaway, this is a very viable option.
You can buy quality products at a discount and give them away in your competition.
For example, last year I purchased a HostGator account during the Black Friday sale , and later, I used that product as a giveaway where the winner could get that hosting package for free.
This method is best if you have a tight budget. Otherwise, there’s no point spending your own money on contests and giveaways.
Find Free Sponsors for Your Blog Contest
Before you approach anyone with an offer to sponsor a contest or giveaway on your site, think carefully about your marketing approach. Every developer wants to get the word out about their products, especially themes and plugins, because once they’re developed, they need marketing.
Most developers will accept your sponsorship offer because they will directly benefit from sponsoring your contest/giveaway.
Final Tip : A mistake many bloggers make is that they don’t stay in communication with their PR team after the contest is over. Try to stay in communication with the sponsoring company’s PR team and make sure to follow their regular updates.
PS: Product reviews may also help you build a better relationship with potential sponsors if the product is relevant to your niche.
If you’ve used these or other methods to get sponsorship for a contest or giveaway on your blog, please let me know.
If you have any comments or questions, feel free to ask in the comments section below.
As always, if you enjoyed this article and found it useful, please share it with your friends and colleagues on Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus!
Disclosure: Some of the links in this article contain affiliate links, which means we may earn a commission if you click through to visit us, at no extra cost to you. See how SidelinePlay is funded, why it’s important, and how you can support us.
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