But sometimes bloggers go above and beyond to host giveaways out of their own pockets so what happens when those bloggers are the very ones who renege on their words. Now, I don’t want to call anyone out but today I hopped on Facebook to see that a blogger had canceled a giveaway and I was curious. I was thinking some company had backed out and was preparing to feel some righteous anger. I was surprised, however, to see the post that was basically summed up by “I didn’t get enough entries so I’m cancelling it. Woe is me.”

I clicked to see the responses, all of which basically equated so “I know how you feel.” And I understand. I’ve spent money shipping prizes. I’ve spent time promoting giveaways. I spend time contacting people to sponsor giveaways and I’ve been stumped when people didn’t enter my giveaways. I recently ended a giveaway that had very little interest and I was perplexed because it was the type of giveaway that I would have entered myself.

But it seems more than a little dishonest to me to start a giveaway and cancel it halfway through just because you’re not getting enough attention, especially during the busiest time of year for most people and the busy shopping time that has prompted thousands of giveaways. The site owner didn’t receive the feedback she wanted but everyone who had already participated was SOL and would see absolutely no return for their efforts.

That’s not okay to me.. but maybe I’m wrong so I pose these questions:

• As a giveaway host/blogger, do we retain the right to cancel giveaways?
• If we do retain that right, is not enough activity an acceptable reason or should there be a reason such as host backed out, emergency, etc?
• How would you feel, as someone who had entered a giveaway that was canceled?
• Do you find actions like that to represent the community/blogosphere in a bad light?

]]> http://reviewsbycole.com/2011/12/our-responsibilities-as-giveaway-hosts/feed/ 2 http://reviewsbycole.com/2011/11/love-hate/ http://reviewsbycole.com/2011/11/love-hate/#comments Thu, 10 Nov 2011 01:58:40 +0000 Cole http://reviewsbycole.com/?p=2594 I’m not sure how I feel about Rafflecopter. I’m not ready to use it myself but I don’t have super popular giveaways. No, I’m conflicted as a reader.

You see, Rafflecopter sounds good and it looks pretty good, too. The problem is, it relies on your browser cookies. If you enter a giveaway and return to the site, you will see the entries you’ve already completed but if you clear your private data, it will appear as though you’ve never entered. The script does not offer a way to check your entry status. It’s not so efficient to navigate through pages of comments but at least you can, to see if you’ve entered before.

Secondly, the script takes a while to load. For whatever reason, it takes longer now than when bloggers first started using it. This slows down my giveaway process significantly, when I’m browsing multiple sites.

Next, bloggers keep requiring us to comment as a form of mandatory entry but this is completely unnecessary. I just don’t understand this. Rafflecopter exists so you can clean up your comments from giveaway spam. I’ll admit, I’m also a bit lazy and I hate scrolling down to comment, reloading the page, scrolling back up and waiting for Rafflecopter to load again.

But it’s not all bad. A lot of bloggers are allowing us to enter by just typing name and email addresses. Plus, you don’t need to add your email address to the comment itself, which is a generally unsafe and totally freaking annoying thing to do.  Being able to post to Twitter or like a page on Facebook is super easy with Rafflecopter.

Multiple websites participating in the same giveaway can post the same Rafflecopter code — which is great as long as you don’t clear your cache. However, multiple mandatory entries can span several lines on the form and it can be difficult to tell when you’ve completed all the entries. It would be nice if Rafflecopter allowed you to put multiple Facebook “Likes,” for example, in one box. At least, I assume they don’t because no one does.

Rafflecopter is an interesting idea but is still imperfect enough to be frustrating to all sorts of users.

1. A gift card can go toward my necessities, like food, clothing or household goods.
2. A $10 gift card is always more useful than a $10 item than I don’t need but a $10 gift card is infinitely more useful than a $100 item for which I have no use.
3. Gift cards give me a choice in what I win so I can be really excited.
4. Some gift cards can be used online so I don’t even have to leave my house or I can still shop from stores that aren’t in the area.

But gift cards have perks if you’re holding the giveaway, too!

1. Gift cards appeal to more people (see my #2 above).
2. Gift cards blur the geographical lines. Sure, I may be in Wisconsin but if I giveaway a gift card to a company that has a website and ships worldwide, I’ve just expanded my giveaway (and potential readership).
3. Gift cards are cheap to send. Throw ‘em in an envelope, or even better, click “Send.” Anyone who has had to mail off their own prizes understands the frustration about this one.

Do you also love gift card giveaways?

This whole thing is a shame cause I’d like to like the USPS. They offer some great services and even products on their website and I know that Canadian residents can find similar steals and deals if they visit http://www.canadapost.ca/shopper/. Aside from shipping supplies and materials, the Canada Post website includes a comparison shopper page that allows Canadian residents to compare etailers that cater specifically for them. Of course, as an American, I don’t usually find it difficult to have stuff mailed to me.

I do like working with companies that will ship giveaway prizes to more than just the USA, though. And companies that will ship them at all. I think I’ll be writing a policy page in the upcoming weeks and only working with companies that will take care of shipping because it’s just such a hassle for me to try to do it (plus, it’s not always cost effective for me).

Still, in a world of electronic mail, it’s interesting how much I still depend on the post office.

As I browse giveaways, I find myself clicking away from the page, even if the prize is super awesome because of requirements that are either too difficult or just things that I prefer not to do. Without further ado, here’s an entire list of “Don’ts” that are hurting your cause.

1. Your mandatory entry is also multiple steps. I have to do this and that and another thing? I think not. This is the problem I’m seeing with sites that use Rafflecopter. Either let me comment or rely on the script but don’t require both. It’s redundant and silly, to put it nicely.
2. You require a Google Friend Connect follow. As I’ve mentioned, I don’t use Google Friend Connect on my site or to follow blogs. The numbers are fairly meaningless and no one should be relying on them. Others, like me, have no incentive to follow you on GFC. But you know what? Even people who do use GFC for any reason will click away from your giveaway if you require this because they don’t want to clog their reader with blogs they don’t actually follow.
3. You require me to sign in to something. This, sadly, is the case for both Google Friend Connect and some Blogger blogs. Please allow commentors to use just their name/email/URL, if that’s possible.
4. You want me to register. Seriously. Anything that requires me to register? I skip.
5. You want me to do something but don’t provide a simple way to do it. I’ve just added a plug-in that creates super easy-to-use icons on the side of my blog so all my visitors can easily Tweet, “Like” or Stumble my posts. If you don’t use a similar plug-in or insert code for these actions directly in your giveaway posts, people are probably clicking away.
6. You unintentionally exclude readers. Just because your blog focuses on your family doesn’t mean everyone who reads your blog has a family or is in school or has a yard. Even bloggers who keep things simple but just allowing us to answer a question via comment will ask a question that doesn’t allow certain groups of people to answer without lying. Don’t make me lie, okay?
7. Your blog takes far too long to load. Maybe your giveaway has attracted thousands of users and the comments page is long, maybe you want to link to a lot of awesome sites or make money advertising. I don’t know but I can tell you that every comment, every image, every script that you use causes your site to load more slowly. Because comment forms are toward the bottom of your site, they will be one of the last portions of your site to load and if some widget is holding it up, I may simply leave. I’ve said it before but you should consider moving images to a link wall on a separate page and really think twice about all those widgets.
8. I can’t read your blog. There is a blog that I stumble upon periodically. This blog hosts giveaways. This blog also has a design so horrendous that I have taken the time to wonder if it was a joke. I kid you not. This website uses font sizes, faces and colors galore. I can barely read the blog posts and the layout hurts my eyes so much that I leave the website as soon as I realize where I’ve landed. You do not want to be this person.
9. I can’t tell what your prize is or that it’s a giveaway or even where to find it. I browse giveaway and sweepstakes listing sites once a week or so. Or maybe I’m following you on Twitter and I see a link. Whatever the case, if your link URL or title don’t indicate it’s a giveaway, maybe I won’t click over.  Or perhaps it doesn’t explain what you’re giving away and I’m too busy to take the time to click over (especially if your site loads slowly). Keep in mind that your images may display as thumbnails and it can become quite difficult to actually see what the image is. Include the name of your product in your URL and title, make sure to include the title in your Tweets and check your images at different sizes.
10. Your prize doesn’t interest me. Sometimes it’s just a case of incongruous needs and wants. I have no car or garage or yard and I don’t own my own home. There’s a whole slew of items I don’t need. I don’t have kids so I probably won’t enter if your giveaway is focused on them ( there’s always exceptions of course; I do have an 8 year-old sister and a love for stuffies!). And I don’t own a BlackBerry or use Verizon so giveaways that focus on those items don’t do me any good. Sometimes, however, your item just isn’t very good. Even if something’s free, maybe it’s just not a useful or very good product to begin with. Some prizes just call to people. Electronics, brand-new items and expensive goods are those type of items. Home-made items, items that are so cheap that people don’t mind buying them or any prize that has over-saturated the market. It may help if you first ask your friends and family whether they would consider your giveaway prize.

So, there’s my list and it’s pretty good if I do say so myself (and I do!). What reasons stop you from entering giveaways?

One2One Network is by far my favorite source of products in exchange for review. Thanks to the service, I’ve reviewed several books, a CD and snacks. I’ve also participated in giveaways and was a lucky winner of one. (I then passed the prize onto one of you, my readers). In addition to this, I’ve posted a couple publicity/spread-the-word posts and Tweets to qualify for giveaways at One2One. When new opportunities are available, I receive an e-mail. I apply via the website in an automated process (as opposed to manually writing an email). Many of the projects have different participation options, including reviews and/or giveaways and the ability to choose a hard copy or ebook for reviews. I opt for blog reviews, if I qualify. Within several days, One2One Network notifies me if I have been accepted for the project and, if so, my product is on its way pretty much immediately. The amount of time I have to post my review varies, depending on the project and products. It seems to be about two to three weeks on average. When I do post, I have to input my URL and post text into an on-site form that is easily accessible from my projects list in my dashboard. The really cool thing about One2One Network, though, is that every time you complete a task on time, you’re entered into a giveaway. Free stuff is cool enough but free stuff and the chance to win a gift card? Yea, Cole likey.

Aside from the opportunities, One2One helps members improve their websites through tutorials in their learning lounge and if you own a small business, you might even use them to broadcast word via the member marketplace. These aren’t sections that I have used as much but I know many review bloggers also run some sort of business so they certainly could be helpful.

At this time, BzzAgent is probably the next runner up. I’m not as enthusiastic about the site, quite frankly, because they require me to do more work. Although I have had the opportunity to review make up and cleaning products, use coupons and learn about brands, the opportunities that really interest me have been few and far between. Part of this is because BzzAgent’s scope is not just product reviews but generating buzz in general. This is why you may have seen some of those #ImaBzzAgent Tweets and Facebook updates. I don’t directly receive anything from generating that sort of buzz but I may be entered into a contest. However, all buzz activity does count toward my rank on-site. The rank issue is the second reason that I don’t quite love BzzAgent.

As you participate in campaigns by reviewing, Tweeting, posting to Facebook and even just talking to people you know, you earn honeycombs and these honeycombs raise your rank. The higher your rank, the earlier they’ll send notification about projects. Thus, you can respond sooner and, when the campaign has limited quantities, you have a greater chance of being accepted. The problem with this is that it’s sloooow going in the beginning and I began to forget that I was even a member of this site. Another requirement is that you participate in on-site reviews (known as BzzScapes) for brands, products and services. This is definitely my least favorite part of BzzAgent as it gets pretty tedious and I prefer to review things on my review blog. Nevertheless, by participating in some of the campaigns that have no direct kickback, I have been able to raise my rank to receive opps a bit sooner.

Like One2One, BzzAgent occasionally sends out surveys and polls to determine if you qualify for a campaign. For some reason, I don’t seem to receive an email for every new survey and this probably has cost me a couple opportunities. It’s not a deal-breaker but it’s a bit annoying, too. On the plus side, even if you don’t quality, you earn points toward the My Points site every time you complete an activity on BzzAgent. These points accumulate and you can trade them in for gift cards and the like on the My Points site. I wasn’t a member before but figured I might as well use those points that I am earning so I signed up.

Thus far I haven’t been a member at Business2Blogger for very long but the set-up is simple enough that I feel comfortable commenting. You receive periodic (daily?) emails from the service that include links to opportunities for which you quality. The opportunities list requirements and a description of the product/service/opportunity and what the business is willing to offer (products for review or giveaway, compensation). However, the opportunities do not include identifiable brand information, links to websites or images so I find it really hard to gauge if I might actually want to take part. A current opportunity describes “silver jewelry.” I like silver jewelry but that’s such a vague description that I might well hate the item for review. I will probably be cautious when using Bussiness2Blogger for this reason.

I joined the Blogger Black Book a while back and then quickly forgot about it. You see, it’s a really passive way to establish business relationships and find review sponsors. You enter your information and become included in a database. PR folk and businesses can purchase a subscription to the site and they then have access to the database. They can perform a search for the types of blogs/bloggers they’re looking for and, if your information pops up, they may contact you. The problem with Blogger Black Book is that nothing really happens on-site so I don’t know if any of the pitches I’ve received originated from there. No one’s ever said so but it makes sense that they had to find me somewhere. It’d be great if we could track that better with Blogger Black Book.

I am a member of a few Ning groups, mostly created by other bloggers and reviewers so that we can all connect, help one another out and find more opportunities. Currently, I am active in the following groups: Pitch It To Me, Brand Buzz Network, Giveaway Blogs, Blog Friendly PR. Depending on the group, members re-post pitches they’ve received, PR pros can join and directly post pitches or they can contact the group administrators who will then post pitches. The only difficult some people may experience is that you have to take the time to go through the posts and pitches, find ones you like, see if you qualify and, generally, send an e-mail to a PR professional. If you’re not good at selling yourself, this can be your downfall. I’ve got a pretty good voice and have received a lot of positive responses, thus far It’s good to have a pitch or media kit ready for these types of situations.

There’s so many other advantages of these groups, however. You can find ways to raise your Alexa ranking, ask blogging and coding questions, find giveaways to sign up for, get advice on a myriad of subjects, gain Twitter followers and make new friends.

The Clever Girls Collective is yet another network that I have recently joined so my experience is quite limited. I applied and was accepted as a blogger. The collective then sends out e-mails with new campaigns and articles that advertise current partners and events. I have yet to sign up to a review campaign because of the newsletter, however, but I’ve only been a member for a very short time.

I will be contacting these ladies for their addresses and the publisher will be sending each of you a copy of God and Sex.

Thanks for entering. Stay tuned for my next giveaway. Hint: It won’t be long!

So why might I want to win a skincare kit? Simple. My skin sucks. LOL If anyone could benefit from an effective cleanser or facial peel, it’s me. Although, Natural Skin Shop specializes in all sorts of skin types, including Normal/Combination, Mature, Acne/Oily, Uneven Skin Tone and Dry/Sensitive.

As you can guess, these products are all natural (and I am increasingly finding that natural products work much better than commercial products full of chemicals, on my skin) and Natural Skin Shop never tests on animals. If you’re still not sold, you can interact live with their skin care professionals onsite. I love that feature because I am the type of person who always has to ask a ton of questions before making a purchase (I probably asked two dozen before switching to my current webhost d=). They also offer 15% off of your first order, if you sign up for the mailing list.

If you find you do like the products and company, Natural Skin Shop has an in depth web presence, including a Twitter account, Facebook page and YouTube channel.

Disclosure: By writing this post I am qualified to win products and/or cash prize. All views and opinions with regard to the products or company itself are my own and were not influenced, nor reviewed, by the company prior to posting.