Monday, August 25, 2008

How Contests & Giveaways Can Help Build Your Business

By Theo McLanahan


One way to attract extra traffic to your website is through having a contest or giveaway. Although it is true that a large portion of the new visitors you receive may just come looking to get something for free, there will create lots of good publicity that is beneficial.

You can get very creative and have a lot of fun with this idea. Take a look at your website as well as the products and services you offer and think about what your target market might consider fun.

If your website is devoted to parenting issues, you could hold a contest where entrants describe their funniest parenting mishap or the most embarrassing thing their children said in public, etc.

You can also hold a contest centered on a new product launch. For example, if you have a website that features time-management tips for busy women and you are getting ready to release an informational product that explains how to survive the holiday season, you could offer a contest where your visitors submit their funniest Thanksgiving cooking disaster or their best time-saving tip for holiday shopping.

Contest prizes can be arranged by owners of other websites or can come from your very own products and services. If you choose to go with a different website for prizes, you won't have to spend any money on them and the other website's owner will probably be happy to receive some free publicity. If you do this, be sure to mention the name of the provider of the prizes on your website.

For the less creative, simply asking for visitors to submit their personal information and holding a giveaway choosing a random winner from the submissions is still a great idea. You can use the same system for prizes that was outlined in the previous paragraph.

Giveaways can be used to keep customers coming back for more from your business. In a service based business like graphic design, you could allow customers that have paid for your services to fill out a giveaway form each time they do so and offer a monthly prize. This might be added incentive for customers to return in an attempt to win your monthly prizes.

To be successful, you'll want to promote your contest as much as possible. You'll want to send a notice to your mailing list as well as putting information about the contest on the main page of your website and blog. If you offer a podcast, make sure you mention it to your listeners.

A large number of other sites will allow you to advertise your contest with them as well. Google "contest submission sites" to get a hold of some good possibilities. Press releases can also be well utilized to stimulate interest for your event.

Giveaways and contests can boost the amount of traffic your website receives, greatly benefiting your business. As you use them, think about the results and how you can adjust your ideas in an attempt to match your customers' interests as well as possible.

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