Contests and Causes Drive Blog Traffic

I'm on a winning streak. In the last couple of days I've won a newly published book about using LinkedIn and won a premier Wordpress theme. All because I commented on a blog and participated in a fundraising cause.

I'm sure we've addressed this before and want to revisit the idea.

First, contests. Using your blog to promote a contest is a great way to drive traffic, build buzz and generate interaction with your blog's community. Take a look at what Jim Kukral did.

Jim had an autographed copy of Lewis Howes' new book LinkedWorking. Jim had two objectives: build his LInkedIn network and give away a the book. On his blog, he wrote about the book and offered to give one away to someone who posted a comment. Plus you had to connect with Jim on LinkedIn and post a link to your LinkedIn profile in your comment. I was already connected with Jim, but I commented anyway and shared my profile link (helps with creating visibility!). And I won the book!  Whoo hoo!

And here I am writing about Jim, his contest and the book I won. I write this not to brag about winning but to share with you how you can do this too.  Pretty simple. I think I read about Jim Kukral's contest on Twitter, but I can't remember.

I also did this on my personal blog, Slim-People.com. I was contacted by Weight Watchers and asked if I wanted to give away a copy of thier new cookbook and a 3 month membership. To be eligible to win, readers had to submit a comment with their best tip for healthier eating. It was a win all the way around because my readers learned valuable new info and two people got to win.

Fundraising for a special cause can also drive traffic. And this is where the power of social media comes in.

Today, my colleage Scott Stratten (@unmarketing) is holding a tweet-a-thon to raise $12,000 for Share Our Strength, an organization dedicated to eliminating child hunger. He's tweeting for 12 hours and 2.5 hours into his event, he's already raised half his goal!  All the info is posted on a blog and his tweets and retweets are driving tremendous traffic. Scott collected prizes from his colleagues to give away in a drawing at the end of the tweet-a-thon. And, there are "flash prizes." That's what I won, much to my surprise.

I contributed $24 and minutes later got a tweet saying I had won a $100 premium wordpress theme.  Not sure what that is, but I'll take it! :-) And as a result, what am I doing? Blogging and tweeting about the event to raise more awareness and drive more traffic to the cause. Sweet.

[By the way, I hope you'll join me in contributing as little as $12 to Share Our Strength and help Scott meet his goal!]

Beyond driving traffic, these online events and contests create awareness, visibility for the organizers and those who participate, and a heck of a lot of good will. The long term payoff is new readers as well as respect and credibility for sharing your passions and helping others. Can't see a downside there.

So the question is: what can you do to raise funds for your favorite cause or what can you give away that enriches the lives of your readers and at the same times develops a closer relationship with you?

Comments

[InternetHow]

Contest and giving away free things are very good way to get traffic and also subscribers.

[castocreations]

It might be good for subscribers and traffic but it does not always translate into sales. It CAN...don't get me wrong. But it won't always.