As it’s been approximately ten seconds since I last ranted on about something that really really bothers me, I figured it might be time to share a new one.
I am all for giveaways on blogs. Somehow I even seem to have fairly good luck with them, having won granola bars, an iTunes gift card, a necklace, a tank top, a purse, an amazon gift certificate and a number of books.
So yes, I’m certainly not complaining about the giveaways. What I am complaining about however, is when a giveaway requires you to post about the giveaway in order to be entered. You can’t just comment, you have to tell everyone else who reads your blog about it.
(That Pay It Forward giveaway is totally excluded from this – I have no issues with that kind of thing (although I will never comment on them because I know I would stress about what to giveaway for 364 days and then finally send it out on the 365th day. Also, it would probably be an old dried-out muffin, so you wouldn’t want it anyway)).
No, my ire is directed toward the giveaways where, in order to be entered, you have to post a link to THEIR giveaway on your own blog.
I don’t mind at all if you can get extra entries for doing those things, but when the only way to be entered at all is to post about it, I am seriously annoyed. What happened to a comment being good enough? What about a contest being mainly for your normal readers, not just the ones who came on by for a chance to win and will never ever return?
I understand that you want some publicity in return for giving away stuff. But I also have zero desire to clog up my blog with a bunch of notices about “hey, look a giveaway at a random person’s blog who you don’t read and I don’t actually read either. Um, that’s all.”
But then, maybe I’m just a total blog giveaway snob, like I’m a snob about so many other meaningless things.
Bart says
I wouldn’t classify you as a blog giveaway snob. You’re a valiant defender of your appreciative readers’ precious time! Nobody wants to read spam giveaway posts.
lacie tidwell says
Janssen I absolutely love your posts! I really do! I chose to do the ‘Pay it forward’ giveaway to encourage others to be generous. That’s really it. Do good things and good things happen to you. I can see how it can get carried away (if you are posting 30 of these) but that’s really the reason I did it- for fun and to encourage others to be generous as well. As it turns out I had one participant… he he go figure:)(it never occured to me to have people just leave comments either- seriosuly it never did!) sigh- giveaways- I guess I’m just a novice with the blogging world still:)
Gretchen says
Amen. I guess I’m a snob too. But apparently a snob with bad luck compared to you 😉
Nicole says
upon reading your comments, I have changed the random little give-away that I was doing on my blog. I re-posted it from someone else, but I don’t really care if anyone else does it.
You’ve helped me see the light. 🙂
Kristi says
I know I know. Guilty. BUT I just wanted to drag down my other bloggers into posting it on their blogs because I didn’t want to post it on mine (misery totally loves company!), but I really really wanted something made by that friend. I will hang my head in shame from this time forward(and I will also enter more giveaways and hope your luck rubs off on me.)
emily kate says
I feel the SAME WAY! I don’t mind that being an option for extra entries but I don’t want to post about other giveaways on my blog. Especially because if I blog about a giveaway on my blog it’s going to to be MY giveaway since I have a business. I never enter giveaways that require more than a comment to enter!
Florinda says
I’m with Emily – posting about a giveaway is OK for optional extra entries, but in order to enter in the first place? Nah. Same for Twittering, Stumbling, etc. I understand wanting to get the word out, but I really wonder how many giveaways bring in new readers who stick around.
If I’m trying to get extra entries in someone else’s giveaway, I’ll link to it in my weekend roundup, but I won’t give any giveaway its own post unless it’s mine :-).
Elizabeth says
There’s just nothing I want that badly, to be perfectly honest.
I strongly object to being forced through hoops – I totally agree with you on this one.
Bart says
Upon rereading, my previous comment sounds kind of harsh, and I want to clarify that I only have love for all the bloggers out there, giveaway spam or no giveaway spam.
Angella says
HEAR, HEAR!
SushiiGirl says
I agree! I didn’t enter a blog giveaway contest just for that reason. I felt stupid posting an entry for all to see about which dress was my favorite and where I would wear that dress on my “dream date.” I almost thought about creating a separate blog just for junk entries.
chelon:) says
wow…you are lucky!! i never win anything. maybe i should enter more?
Mari says
I agree. I have stopped entering for that extra entry on giveaways and do not require of it my readers.
I suppose it is a good way to get more visitors.
Thanks for entering my giveaway, btw, and thanks for the book rec. 🙂
Liz says
Yeah, I realized how annoying it was AFTER I posted the link, and I still wanted to win, so I left it there.
That being said, I hurried and posted something else so at least it wouldn’t be at the top of my blog. Yech.
Packrat says
I feel really funny putting my name in to win something from someone so haven’t gone it (yet). The Pay It Forward giveaway sounds fun, tho, because in turn for getting something I’d be giving something.
Lexiloo says
nahhhh, you aren’t a snob about it at all, I pretty much feel the same way! I’ve done what, two giveaways? I just need a comment, not another post about it somewhere! on the first one I did, one of my readers posted about it on her blog, and so several people I had never heard of came to my blog and commented and entered. they haven’t been back since. coincidence?
Adele says
I totally agree with you on this one. It could also be due to the fact that my country excluded me from a crapload of comps but I seriously cannot be bothered advertising them for the chance of getting something. Good post.
Natasha @ Maw Books says
I never enter a giveaway if the ONLY way to enter is by blogging about it. First of all, not everybody has blogs. Are they that snobbish to ignore everybody else? Second, that’s a lot of work. Third, I’ve never done it before and I won’t start now. That’s not to say that I’ve asked others to do it as an extra entry. Oh yes, I’m all for that.
Megan says
I totally agree! I posted about a giveaway once on my blog, but felt so lame for advertising like that, and haven’t done it again. But it’s so tempting when they bribe you with an extra entry in the contest. And it’s always fun to win something. Would it be totally wrong to create a blog for the sole purpose of posting giveaway spam? Because you know no one will read it? Muahaha.