Things have finally started to slow down a bit here in my household as Thanksgiving company left yesterday. It was a wonderful Thanksgiving as it was the first time in 18 years that I had Black Friday off. My grandchildren were here and I was able to spend the day with them, my daughter and son-in-law…which was  much nicer than heading into work at the break of dawn! I hope yours was equally fun and delicious!

That said, it is time to continue my mini series on Giveaway Events. In my last post we discussed the value of entering Giveaway Events and how they are most likely the best way for a newbie marketer to begin building their all important “list.” Today we’re going to discuss a few of the things that must be in place first before you join a Giveaway.

The first and most obvious item you must have ready before entering a Giveaway is the gift you plan on contributing to the Giveaway. This gift can be a report, ebook, membership pass (for those with membership sites), scripts and software…anything that would be of value to others and entice them to sign up to your list in order to get their gift.

The most successful gifts are the unique ones…something that no one has seen before. Creating your own product from scratch is always the ideal situation and because of its uniqueness, will most likely attract the most sign-ups and build your list quickly. If you don’t have your own product, you can use a PLR product, but take the time to change it up and make it your own…including the graphics. Be careful, just because a product is a resell rights product does not automatically mean it can be given away. Always check the license first. Remember to take pride in what you offer as this product will be downloaded by many people and this is their first impression of your work. Use that opportunity wisely.

Creating your own product does not mean you have to create a full blown ebook. Creating a unique report of 10-20 pages can bring in as many or more sign-ups to your list as an ebook can. There is a good chance that those that go to your particular Giveaway Event have been to other events and the last thing they want to download is a repeat of something they saw in a previous Giveaway. Uniqueness is what will attract them and quality content is what will keep them subscribed to your list.

Another piece that must be in place before entering a Giveaway is a Mailing List or ways to advertise the promotion. If you’re a newbie and your mailing list is not impressive, it’s still important that you find ways to promote the event. Post to forums and blogs, use social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook and ad boards as well. And, don’t forget to write an email promo to your list…no matter how small you consider it. Remember, with most Giveaways, if you have not had any referrals one to two days in, your gift will be removed.

Here’s some insider tips to consider:

• Even if you don’t get enough referrals to stay in the event the full duration, the first day is the heaviest traffic day so you can still come away with a number of new people signed up to your list.
• Your gift rank used to be reliant on how many people you referred, but that has changed with most events. These days, you can buy your way up into some sort of upgraded partnership. Usually these upgrades include a number of gift credits that will move you right to the top of the list. The advantages to that are obvious…the higher your gift rank the more exposure you’ll receive which will result in more sign-ups for you. Upgraded partners are usually given the option of adding a special offer to the rotator. Adding your squeeze page will give you more exposure and most likely more sign-ups.
• Get in the event while still in pre-launch. This will expose your product to all the other contributors for a week or more until it actually launches. Take advantage of all the small things…they can make a huge difference.

Finally, your Auto-responder: If you have built any sort of list…no matter what size, you most likely already know the importance of a reliable auto-responder. The last thing you need is an auto-responder that produces high bounce rates. All that does is destroy everything you worked so hard getting in place. You must also require a double  opt-in for your visitors. This prevents freebie seekers from keying in phony information in your sign-up form by requiring them to confirm their subscription.

aWeber is the auto-responder that I use and recommend.

There’s only a few things left that must be in place before you enter such as the  Landing/Sign-up Page as well as the Thank You Page. We’ll cover these in my next installment.

Till then….

enJOY the season…;)

Kathy

p.s.
A friend of mine, Ron Barrett at “Internet Marketing Insights with Ron Barrett” has put together a very reasonable offer for anyone (like myself) who does not like doing the techie part of Giveaways, or maybe its your first one and you’d like some help getting it set up to make sure it is done right….check out his offer to help at:

http://www.ron-barrett.com/YourGiveawayHelp/

For other Giveaway Events check out:

JV Giveaways

(Disclosure: There are affiliate links included in this post and I will receive a commission if you purchase anything through one of these links. If you wish to avoid this, you can navigate to the same sites by typing their address into your address bar.)