~BLOGGING & GIVEAWAYS~PROS & CONS

So, today I received and email about a blog I follow that was having a giveaway.  My first thought was awesome I said, let me go check that out and enter.  I proceed to the site and low an behold there it is.  A nice prize don't get me wrong, but I started scrolling down the Rafflecopter to see what you had to do to enter this giveaway and I am immediately turned off when I see that there are over 75 tasks for the Rafflecopter.  Sorry folks not happening.

Now, if you have time to do this, then that is wonderful, I don't.  So I made a few comments in a few places about this being a huge pet peeve of mine only to find others feel the same way!

I have been having giveaways since I started my blog and thinking back I don't think I have ever had more than ten things being required.  Some of them mandatory and some of them not.

For me, I want people to follow my blog and enjoy it, not run from it, thinking that lady is crazy and I'm not doing all that stuff just for a book.  I would rather buy it.

All of this prompted me to do a blog post on giveaways.  Please keep in mind these are my opinions and everyone is entitled to theirs as well. 

I love feedback from my fans/followers so feel free to share what you like/don't like.

I think bloggers need to keep some of these things in mind when holding a giveaway:

• Some people DO NOT tweet or have a twitter account
• Some people DO NOT have a facebook account
• Some people DO NOT have a pinterest account
• If you make certain things mandatory then they won't be able to enter your giveaway and in my opinion will give them another reason not to follow your blog.
• Other things to consider are people do a lot of things via mobile, their phones, kindles, ipads etc. which means things aren't as accommodating on these devices.  I realize none of this is any one's fault I am just stating some things :0) 
• Making email subscription mandatory is not always good either.  I mean we all want to have as many followers as possible but to enter a giveaway why not give them the option to follow you via GFC, Linky, Email, Google +  for myself I am more likely to subscribe to your blog on my own not when it is mandatory.

People are very busy and they like things to move fairly quickly hence making them do a gazillion things will turn them off and away from your blog all together.

Now as a blogger I try my hardest to make my giveaways somewhat simple/easy/quickly and yes, I do make some things mandatory, but not always, because word of mouth is a wonderful thing per say.  I will be re-examining how I do all of this from now on though.

I DO like it when you (the person entering) comment because these giveaways do take time to set up and they also cost money!  Aside from that I enjoy hearing from you all.  Even if you just say Hi!  I don't always have time to respond but I DO READ THEM ALL!

I understand both sides of all of this the blogger's side and the fan/followers side.  I have worked for the public for 23 years and counting and I am a believer in treating people the way I would want to be treated.

The world is a busy busy place and I do realize that isn't the blogger's job to make things easy so to speak but for myself I would rather make them easy and tolerable to increase my fan base and encourage them to return to my blog after all it was ME who decided to do this regardless of the work involved, but at the same time we (bloggers) like for people to appreciate what we do!

My Current Giveaways you can check out if you like and let me know what you think.

No Strings Attached which is a giveaway hop organized by someone else and pretty much self explanatory.  Just comment with your email so if you win I will have a way to contact you.

http://kindlehooked.blogspot.com/p/no-strings-attached.html

My happy blogiversay is a little different.  There are five tasks, four of which are mandatory, and 1 is not.  Now, like I said I will be looking at how I do these in the future.

http://kindlehooked.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_9032.html


These are just my thoughts and opinions!  I like to keep an open mind and I don't think of everything so please don't take any offense to this post and share your thoughts or opinions so that we may learn from each other.  I am still new to the blogging world by only being involved for six months so I am by no means an expert nor do I know everything :)

THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO READ THIS!
MUCH LOVE, TANYA