The Bloggers With The Most To Say
What is the deal with giveaways, anyway?
I've never really understood the appeal in giveaways to bloggers.
I understand it from the marketing point of view--companies want to get publicity so they offer crap to a popular blogger to give away. Or, less popular bloggers want to get more popular, so they offer presents and tell people to post/tweet/shout from the effing rooftops about the fact that they're giving away a rug shaped like a cupcake.
I've seen kagillions of giveaways in the year or so that I've been blogging, and they've all been really stupid things. Like, I really don't need a rug shaped like a cupcake that you found at the dollar store. There's never been anything worth entering.
What do you guys think? Do you enter giveaways often? Have they been interesting things, or do you just like winning? Have you done giveaways? Why?
And what is the deal with cupcakes, too?
**Also, if a single one of you leaves a link to a giveaway, I swear I will punch you in the junk (or the lady junk).
Tags: annoying, cupcakes, giveaways, punch-you-in-the-junk
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Whitney on -
I like giveaways. All the giveaways that I have participated and been in has been pretty awesome stuff. It wasn't just stuff given to them by a company, but things they bought themselves. Some have even given away things that were rather expensive. I usually enter it if it is something I would like to have. I, personally, have never done a giveaway. I might later in the future. I don't know. I also haven't won.
-
Permalink Reply by Michelle Elisabeth on -
Giveaways, I think, serve two purposes:
1. To promote the maker(s) of the prizes. This can help the blogger if they are sponsors, close friends, or even the blogger him/herself as it brings traffic to the makers' site.
2. It often makes the reader want to come back (to see who won!) I love free things, and have followed a blog I was on the fence about to enter, and then waited to see what I thought of their blog content.
Of course some are better than others, if you want readers to get excited, it has to be a prize worth getting excited about!
-
Permalink Reply by Island gal on -
Hey! I left you a message... I would love some tips from you!
-
Permalink Reply by Krysten (After 'I Do') on -
I just won my first giveaway and was really excited - I won a pair of gold earrings from an Etsy shop that I adore.
As for having giveaway... I've done 3. The first was a book that I love and highly recommend. I do book reviews on my blog and thought it would be fun to give something to my readers that I myself enjoy. That was a big success/
The second giveaway I did was a "feel better giveaway." I was having a rough week and decided to make a giveaway of things that always make me feel better - Godiva chocolate, Burt's Bees goodies, etc. Again, this giveaway was another big success.
I do the giveaways more as a way to thank my readers for their kind comments, good advice, words of encouragement, etc. And I would never put something into a giveaway that I myself wouldn't enjoy.
I would only enter a giveaway if it was something I actually wanted.
-
Permalink Reply by Holly Renee on -
I'm the same way. I'm doing my first giveaway on Monday and it's sole purpose is to thank my readers. I don't care if I get more traffic, I don't care about free stuff, I just want to say thanks for reading to the people that do.
-
Permalink Reply by Krysten (After 'I Do') on
-
I'm doing one on Monday too! My readers have been ridiculously awesome in giving me good thoughts while I'm unemployed and searching for a job. I want to thank them for keeping me sane and positive. They're pretty amazing.
-
Permalink Reply by RAY J on -
I enter in giveaways that have stuff I'm interested in - the first one had this really neat vintage looking camera that I thought would make a really nice decorative piece, the current one I've entered in is a $40 giftcard that can be used at various online shops. If I'm not interested in the item being given away, I don't enter.
I'm thinking of maybe doing a giftcard giveaway of mine own, as I frequently get Amazon giftcards each month, I'm thinking maybe for my 200th or 250th post or some milestone... we'll see though =)
-
Permalink Reply by Mounting Counting (anonymous) on -
Haha I've blogged a while but only recently started taking it seriously. I don't know what to make of the whole giveaway thing. Would I whore myself by doing them? Possibly....but unless someone offered me an incentive to I wouldn't want to act so desperate.
-
Permalink Reply by Ashley Koch on -
I can't stand when I read posts like, "The kind people are such-and-such were gracious enough to let me host a giveaway of one of their AMAZING products!" when really, the "amazing" products are something stupid like bowls and the "kind people at such-and-such" are just desperate to get their name out there. The blog just ends up sounding like a commercial. Not entertaining. I'd rather read blogs by real people than by product-whoring robots.
-
Permalink Reply by Jason Simone on -
The only giveaway I've ever won was a pair of place mats... kind of on accident. I like the idea of some giveaways, such as hard-to-find or expensive clothes on a fashion blog, or baby stuff on a mommy clog - but random giveaways just don't make sense. I don't really think I'll ever have a giveaway for promotion because I don't really care how many people read my blog - it's for me.
-
Permalink Reply by jay. on -
I find giveaways to be pretty damn annoying. I feel like there's one in my blog feed everyday, and it can get pretty repetitive.
However, I have entered a few because the prizes were kick-ass. And the one I wanted to win the most, I actually did. Whowouldathunkit? I told my husband that I should have played the lottery that day. Oh well.
-
Permalink Reply by Angie on -
Well, I'm an optimist. In my opinion, I think bloggers do giveaways to be nice.
Sure, some may want popularity, but I think most bloggers who do giveaways just enjoy giving and making people happy.
Plus, some people who do giveaways and live in different countries or even a different state from their winner can send fun stuff that you can only find in that country/state.
As long as it's not overdone, I think giveaways are lovely and I'll enter any that I truly love. I just entered a H.I.T.'s and Kohl's diamond earring giveaway. If I win them, I'm giving them to my wife. ^_^
© 2012 Created by Lisa.
