Step By Step How To Do A Giveaway

One of the promotional activities we are doing is having MIVEST members host a giveaway on our public Made In Vermont Etsy Street Team Blog. For anyone who has never hosted a giveaway, or who doesn't blog themselves, this may seem a little intimidating.  This post is designed to take you through the process step by step.

If you have any problems understanding the following guidelines, please email me at AllAboutCatsEtsy@gmail.com 

First Step - Select Date To Do Giveaway

Each giveaway starts on a Monday morning, lasts for two weeks, and ends on a Sunday night at midnight. Select a two week period that you would like to do the giveaway.  To see available dates and to sign up, go to the Blog Giveaway: Sign Up Here Post  and leave a comment stating the available dates you have picked out.

Once you have done this, I will check to make sure you are listed as an author on our blog.  If you aren't you will be receiving an email inviting you to become a blog author.  Follow the instructions in the email to become a blog author.

Preparing Ahead Of Time

1). Choose the item, or items, you want to give away. You can do a giveaway with one or more items.  The item(s) you choose to giveaway should be representative of things you sell in your shop.
2). Take your pictures of the giveaway item(s). You can have more than one picture in the blog post.
3). It is totally up to you what the "rules to enter" the giveaway are.  You can use the following example or make up your own. Example: To enter, pick your favorite item in my shop.
4) Let people know how to sign up for your giveaway. To sign up people should leave a comment below your post. Also state that people signing up should leave their contact info (email address) in their comment so that you have a way to reach them if the win.

Preparing Ahead Of Time - Writing Your "Draft Post" In An Email To Yourself

You can use your email to prepare your post by writing an email to yourself.

In this email write a draft of your Blog Giveaway Post.
What to include in your "Draft Post" email:
Write a paragraph about you and/or about what kinds of things you sell in your shop (this is optional).
Give the information about your giveaway item(s).
Insert a picture of the item(s) you are giving away.
State the rules of your giveaway.
Write the information of how people can sign up for the giveaway.
State what date the giveaway will end.
State how the winner will be notified.

Example:

The All About Cats Etsy Shop  features handmade items for cats (and for humans who love them). All About Cats catnip toys are filled with potent organic catnip, two bells encased in fleece, and fiberfill. Each cat toy is designed, and lovingly hand crafted, by Linda, the owner of the All About Cats Etsy Shop. Every item is made in a "Smoke Free" "Cat Filled" home :-)

This giveaway is for Fran, a happy-go-hoppy frog who is looking forward to entertaining your cat! Fran is made from green and yellow fleece. She has black felt, and yellow fleece, eyes. She measures approximately 3 1/2" tall and 5 1/2" from the end of one hind leg to the other. Her belly is approximately 2 1/2" wide.

For a chance to win Fran, visit the All About Cats Etsy Shop, pick your favorite item in the shop, and leave a comment to this post saying which shop item is your favorite.  Please leave your email address in your comment so you can be contacted if you win.

The winner will be posted on this blog Sunday, May 2nd, and will be contacted by email the same day.

Feel free to visit the All About Cats Blog and the All About Cats Facebook Page.

Make sure to check back often for more giveaways.  There is a new giveaway every two weeks!

Keep tweaking your "Rough Draft" email until you get it to look like what you want it to look like when you post it on the blog.

If You Don't Know How To Write A Blog Post

If you don't know how to write a blog post, send me an email that includes all the information you want in your blog post.  I will write up the post and post it for you. My email address is: AllAboutCatsEtsy@gmail.com 

What To Do On The Morning Your Giveaway Is To Start

Wait for the MIVEST member who is doing the giveaway ahead of you to write a blog post stating that a winner for their giveaway has been chosen.  This MIVEST member should write into the group to let you know that the coast is clear for you to post your giveaway, or you can keep checking the blog to see if that blog post has been written.

Write your blog post.

What To Do After Your Giveaway Has Been Posted

A big aspect of the giveaways is advertising.

One way to do this is for other MIVEST members to get the word out about your giveaway by posting about it on their Etsy Shop announcement, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, My Space, We Love Etsy, Indiepublic, etc.  So let the rest of the members know when your giveaway is posted.

Another way to advertise is to submit your giveaway to sites that will post your giveaway for free.  Here are sites you can submit your giveaway to:
Etsy Giveaway Blog
By Hand Giveaways
Just A Mom's Take On Things 
International Giveaways
Blog Givaways: Everyone Loves Free Stuff
Just A Mom's Take On Things
Mom Fuse 
Contest Forums
Tip Junkie
The Giveaway Gal
The Giveaway Diva
Blog Contest Station 
PRIZEY: A Directory Of Online Giveaways 
Sweepstakes Advantage
Blog Giveaways
Product Sweepstakes  
Prize-A-Tron
Free Blog Giveaway
Contest For Moms
I Wanna Win Wednesdays
Waterwaif
Indie Smiles -  Indie Smiles Submit Giveaway Page
On Facebook: a little etsy love giveaways and features
On Facebook:  Etsy Sellers' Giveaways 

These sites will probably bring in about 75%, or more, of the people signing up for your giveaway.

When It Is Time To End Your Giveaway

Go to the True Random Number Generator page on Random.org.  There you will see the True Random Number Generator on the right hand side of the page.


Leave the "Min" number at 1. Change the "Max" number to the number of entries you have for your giveaway.  Click on the "Generate" button.  Then a number will show up beside "Result."  Then count down the list of comments to your giveaway until you reach the number that matches the "Result" number from the True Random Number Generator. The person that wrote that comment is the winner.