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Author, blogs, Brinda Berry, contests, facebook, giveaways, Gloria Richard, Humor, prizes, rafflecopter, social media, twitter, Writer, Writes
WELCOME BACK to the Hammock, Brinda!
Yesterday, I went whistling about my day, checking for comments on the blog and then it hit me.
No.
Not the beer truck, although I did step in front of one to avoid the woman carrying two large sacks of BOGO Starbucks Christmas Blend Coffee and a Vente Something.
An ACK hit me!
A why-did-I-not-think-of-this-before ACK!
Brinda Berry has become so familiar on my site, I didn’t exercise my fingers, tax my brain, or show common courtesy by introducing her properly.
PLEASE forgive me, techie Guru and good buddy, Brinda!
I left your lovely picture hanging out beside the title of the article: Giving the Cow Away. I now gratefully return the Hammock to Brinda Berry, who evidently has a brain.
Giving the Cow Away
by Brinda Berry
While establishing a web presence, we look at our peers to see what they are doing and what works. It’s not easy to figure out what we can do to draw more people to our websites and make our current readers stick with us. Good content? Sure. That’s a given. There are other things we can do that involve some financial resources. I’m talking about giveaways.
Before we get to the beef of this topic, I’d like to see what your experience has been. Please answer the poll and we’ll see.
I recently signed up to use a tool called Rafflecopter and it’s not necessary to have one of these gadgets, but it sure made tracking a breeze. I was able to export a spreadsheet with information. I’d like to share some results with you that will illustrate activity linked to a giveaway. I ran one contest for 3 days in honor of Ciara Knight’s book release. The prize was a digital copy of her novella and a handbag mirror. Estimated expense was approx. $20 total. I had 7 blog readers who entered the contest. Participants could enter with a comment on the blog, by liking Ciara on Facebook or following her on Twitter. There were 17 “actions” performed to gain entries. I thought that was pretty good. Next, I tried a contest during the month of November to promote social presence for Gloria and myself. (see it on my site) The numbers below are NEW FOLLOWERS who entered the contest. Here are the results of a month-long promotion with a $25 Amazon gift certificate prize:
6 Follow Gloria’s Blog
7 Follow @GloriaWrites on Twitter
7 “Like” Gloriarichardwrites on Facebook
20 “Like” Brindaberryauthor on Facebook
26 Follow @Brinda_Berry on Twitter
Keep in mind that the Rafflecopter was placed on my website as WordPress does not allow certain javascript apps to be placed on hosted sites. I assume that would be why I did better than Gloria (in the numbers game) because I promoted from my site as well as hers.
I liked using the Rafflecopter and it is a free service at this time. I was able to export a spreadsheet of activity and you saw the data. If you entered our contest by using it and didn’t like it, please tell me about it! Last summer, I did a blog tour for the release of my book and used random.org for selecting winners of my book and for the grand prize. It’s also free and works well, but if you want a reader to do something in particular to enter (like following you on Twitter), then you must have them note it in the comments. That requires you to log things.
I have a question for you now. I know I’m supposed to be imparting wisdom, but I’d like your opinion. Do you feel that book giveaways discourage you from buying a book since you MIGHT win it? Someone once told me they wouldn’t buy milk if you were giving away the cow. Or something like that. 
I’d also like to know the kinds of prizes you enjoy. I was AMAZED by the response I got when I gave out romance trading cards of The Waiting Booth. The cost of the stamp and envelope were more than the card itself. I had emails from people that made me really smile and think that prize was worth giving out. It surpassed my expectations. So, here’s another poll:
I think the key is to have fun with this, so don’t let giveaways break the marketing budget. Authors can add some excitement to their blogging with a few prizes here and there. The Pimp My Web Presence Giveaway during November was certainly worth the effort. I look forward to coming up with contests and giveaways that are fun and productive.
Find Brinda: FACEBOOK , TWITTER , WEBSITE/BLOG
The Waiting Booth LINKS: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo Books, Etopia Press, All Romance eBooks, Borders online
The Waiting Booth TRAILER: http://youtu.be/xIBrZWsJ3Ls
Gloria Richard 
I have never “not” bought a book because I thoght I would win it. I would definitely NOT BUY A BOOK if I was entered in a contest to win it, but then if I lost… if I was really interested in the first place, I would then go buy it. I think a contest is a good way to draw attention to your book, if you have the right connections to “get the word out”
In general, I don’t think give-aways draw people into your Web platforms. Not is any real numbers. The numbers you show above for a $25 expense are not really that tantalizing to me to want to have a contest. I get the same result after a good night of self-promotion. (Twitter, Blog Post, Facebook) and general social networking.
HOWEVER… I think Writer’s contests draw people in. Especially when people can sumbit their own work and get a chance for feedback.
Hi Jennifer *waving* . Thanks for adding your thoughts to this discussion. I agree that I will buy a book if I really want to read it.
After the post published, I did add a sentence to the post. The numbers listed from the November giveaway are NEW FOLLOWERS linked only to the giveaway and additional to what we obtained by other means. That may NOT make a difference in your opinion, but I needed to clarify. My experience is that it’s easy to gain numbers on Twitter. I’ve gained more than the quoted numbers in a week of regular activity. The other platforms take more work in advertising.
As for writer’s contests, I am participating in one now on a friend’s blog. I hadn’t really thought about it as a vehicle for marketing. Thanks!
Hi, Jennifer! Hope all is well after your two days of hell with hubby and his oral surgery. ALWAYS glad to see you here, MS recognized for VERSATILE BLOGS in 2011. Woo Hoo for you!
Brinda’s presence on my blog brought her followers to me. It was my job to create posts that would keep them here. For my blog–at the time Brinda started this series–6 new followers was close to a 100% increase.
See my comments (below) with my thoughts on contests. I’m not sure EXACTLY when I launched the first post. Why? Because WordPress ate it when I did my second post. It had NOTHING to do with operator error. Nope.
Off to do litmus test for plausible deniability.
My publisher ran giveaways for my first book with success, and the one I have going on my blog right now for both my first and second book has over two hundred entrants. Many of these have marked the book as ‘to be read’ on Goodreads and of course, many are my returning fan base, so I know it’s spurring interest in the the second book and sales of the first.
And it’s fun! I’m all about the fun.
Alex, since you are the BLOGGING NINJA, I will take that as good advice. Wow. Two hundred entrants is great. I agree that it’s all about the fun. 🙂 For those reading this who don’t know Alex, check out his blog at http://alexjcavanaugh.blogspot.com. He has a major army, tribe, following, or whatever you’d like to call it.
Alex! I will be over to visit your blog this morning and follow (if I haven’t already).
Me thinks we’re both regulars with Piper and Holmes. Forsooth. (Had to add that so readers would know I time traveled for my word choice.)
I’m honored to have you visit.
Oh! Oh! I do love those contests that offer a writer a chance to write something and win a review or an opportunity to have their work featured on-line. Is it an oxymoron that writers are needy showoffs? No? Good. Hate to have my name (and career) associated with anything containing the letters m-o-r-o-n.
And, Brinda’s gift certificate offer would have launched my “Pick me! Pick me!”. Trouble is: I couldn’t enter because the RaffleCopter fueled up on my site. Curses!
As for the new followers on my blog, we have to look at the percentages. I was (and still am) a newbie to blogging and FB Pages. Brin found me and offered to do this series. The increase in followers is dramatic on a percentage basis.
Brinda shakes head. You should know the percentages and numbers, Gloria. (Her first post gave tons of nifty info on learning where new followers found me and analysis of activity.)
I could easily copy and paste Jennifer’s comment here.
I do enter a contest if it is easy enough, like leaving a comment, because I try to leave a comment anytime I visit, so I’m not putting out any extra effort. My goal in commenting is to have my name seen. Some may even click on my link.
And, who can resist an opportunity to throw in their two cents? Snort.
If I’m at a blog where there is a contest, I am there because I would be there anyway, because I either already support that author, or I support the guest author, or I’ve been referred by another author or intrigued by the topic. I don’t visit because there is a giveaway.
Over July and August, I hopped around the blogs of generous hosts to promote my collection of short stories, Storyteller. Many of those stops included a giveaway of Storyteller to a random commenter.
IMHO, I attracted new readers and new contacts not because I gave away a copy of my book, but because I was on a blog hosted by someone outside my circle. Free copies of Storyteller put the book in more readers’ hands, and those readers have mouths. I’m new. I’m nobody. I’m not on anyone’s radar right now. Free copies of Storyteller don’t only promote that particular book, free copies promote me as a writer, and promote all of my future books.
I don’t think any winner was jumping up and down because they won MY book, but they may have been excited to win in general. I know I’m all a-tingle if I win a bookmark. It’s fun! When a new reader receives my book they may read it. If they read it they may like it and if they like it, they may tell their friends. If they like it, they may seek out my next release and even be willing to pay for it.
In addition to giveaways on blogs, I’ve given away copies strategically. To reviewers, of course, but to hosts at readings, to instructors, to authors I’ve been fortunate to meet, especially if our genres are similar. For me, giveaways come down to one word: Exposure.
Yes, you hit the nail on the head with that one little word –Exposure. I am okay with hosting and participating in giveaways when they are easy. I won’t participate in the ones that make you jump through hoops. I think, “Who is doing all this for a book or gift card?”
I’m repeating myself, but I obviously felt like the giveaway was worth it for me. In addition to boosting Gloria’s web presence, I saw a 11% increase in Facebook and 20% increase in blog followers in Nov. with very little effort. I don’t see this “naturally” occur during a month. I have seen this kind of increase or more at the release of my book or during a blog hop. So, I think some sort of “event” plus advertising makes this happen.
As for your comment about people enjoying a win, I won a bookmark created by author Joan Swan. That feeling of “goodwill” from the win has put her on my radar. Plus, I love the excerpts from her book, Fever. So, it’s one I will buy when it is released. In that case, her contest worked.
EEE! Joan Swan! Sherry and I met her in Colorado at a Margie Lawson Immersion Master Class. At that time, she had just signed a three book contract and the release date for her book seemed EONS away. It was 2010. Release date? Spring, 2012.
She was calm. I would have been frantic, applied for a job with the publisher, fiddled with the release schedule.
Her bookmarks are AWESOME! I won one, too. Anxiously awaiting release of FEVER.
Waving, HI!, Sherry! Do you know how tempted I am to edit out that “I’m nobody” in your comments?
I know you meant it in context, but still…
YOU are not “nobody” by a long stretch. Who else would participate in a photo op session with daisy-the-kiddie-ride cow at Ft. Worth stockyards? Hmmm? BTW, you still owe me BIG BUCKS for my restraint in not posting that on FB.
I ran a contest in October in conjunction with the 3rd Writing campaign, in the hopes of increasing followers. I did increase followers, but not by a lot. And the type of contest cost me quite a bit in shipping, so next time I’ll choose lighter prizes! I am running another contest over Jan and Feb on my site to promote my new release, so I hope Sherry is right! I agree with her that exposure for a newbie is muy importante! I think sometimes we will never know how it works. I know it takes up to 20 times of exposure for us to remember products, so while we may not see that person following this time, or next, it might be way down the line that contest takes effect. The important thing is I had fun and I hope all of you did too!
I’ve given away lots of my digital books to readers during my release tour. When I have given away “physical” prizes, the shipping seems to cost more than the prize. I think “digital gifting” is much easier and cheaper.
I saw a LOT of Kindles as prizes over the holiday season. Several authors of the same genre go in together for the prize. There seemed to be more activity with that size prize than with a single book. It’s a thought.
Next year we kindle together!! Or at least we group by genre???
Something Jessica said is very important. “It takes up to twenty times for us to remember”
That is why you see the same advertisement 8 times during the same TV show. That is why you get promotional fliers for the same this in the mail over and over.
Reality is, the first time we see someting, we normally go right past it. Second time, you consider. Third time you think about it. It is human nature to start getting attracted to something the more you get exposed to it.
I am totally guilty of this. During the week before CHristmas, a design sight kept sending new and great software deal. I kept deleting them… then I started reading them. Then I started wanting them… then I started buying them. I now have more graphic design software than I will ever use. (She says with a big smile on her face)
So, I guess the trick is… don’t give up. Keep on sending. Even though you don’t get an immediate responce, it is sinking in.
“If you build it, they will come”
So, now I’m dying to know which design software product you purchased. 🙂
Ha! If you’ve noticed on my blog, I LOVE FONTS. I got 10 volumes of Fonts (about 135000 juicy little letters, 4 graphic Design toolkits, and 3 Volumes of Textures (which are like canvases, but much more multi-functional. I also got 12,000 models.
OH! I’m brimming with excitement!
You know one question I have on contests are international contests. What do you all think? I had several winners who were out of the USA and I didn’t mind shipping to them, but I guess that lots of people exclude out of the country winners due to the shipping. It can add up.
Maybe it’s best to stick with the book marks and e-books, they are cheap to ship!
I have shipped parcels to Jamaica, Italy and the UK this year. My new policy on shipping packages (beginning 2012, lol ) will be limited areas. I’m at the point where I need to plan how and where I’ll spend any marketing dollars. I didn’t really spend that much in 2011, but I want every dollar to count.
I added Rafflecopter! Well, sort of. I have WordPress.com on my site, so for this contest I left a link to the paranormal freebies site where I can host Rafflecopter. I hope this works for people. I’ll be announcing it on Sat on my blog, but it is on my contest page already. We’ll see how it goes. And I did limit it to US residents only. Just because the shipping costs are terrible. Sorry all my Canadian friends!!
Woohoooo! It looks like a fun contest. I checked out your contest page. I love that Rafflecopter widget. For anyone interested in what Jessica and I are talking about with Rafflecopter and the blog type restrictions, here is the info from Rafflecopter.
“Rafflecopter works in the updated editor of blogger, on self-hosted wordpress blogs, typepad, html websites, and facebook via an iframe app. Rafflecopter doesn’t work with Tumblr, Windows Live Writer, or blogs hosted on wordpress.com.”