"Comment Your Butt Off" Contest! Free Web site ($1,000)

Updates in red!

Marketing Muse: Know your Brand
Here is a great class (Know Your Brand) Jenn Stark teaches if/when you want to learn how to brand yourself. Jenn Stark will be one of our Marketing interviewees coming soon. To find out more about your personal brand - this article talks about on how to begin your personal brand.

Comment Your Butt Off Contest!
(I'm so excited this idea went over so well. I am excited to meet all you new blogger buddies out there and help one of you get a fab web site going :) I have put my answers to your questions/UPDATES in RED below)

Recently I hit my 5,000th unique visitor in 4 months. (this is still crazyiness to me :)

Now, I was thinking. Why do I only get about 10-15 comments on average a day but about 100 people come a day? And how do I get people to comment? How do I make more blogger friends and find new blogs to follow (like I need any more!?

So i thought I would run a contest.

Yes another contest - but it is not just any contest!

This one is for you! Not only to get you to come out of the "blogger closet", practice commenting, and introduce yourself to the blogger world. (BTW commenting on blogs is a form of marketing - its getting your name out ;)

This contest is also a way for me to help someone start their own marketing.

You see - I like to help people and I this is the only thing I really can offer to my fellow writers/blog readers.

So - this is a fun contest!

One worth $1,000 to you. And all I have to give to you is my time and energy (which is very valuable to me :)

In the month of March - I am running a "Blog Commenting" contest where you can earn points points for connecting with me.

What is the prize you say? Drum Roll Please!!!!!!




The prize is......



You can choose from the following 3 prizes if you win:

1) DESIGN a 5 page web site for you on Godaddy - FOR FREE! That is about a $1,000 value. Check out the one I just did for Katie Anderson (over at Plot This) - she won it in a conference raffle.

Note: You will have to pay for the Godaddy account with a Web site tonight. You will have to pick and register your domain on Godaddy yourself. You have to populate the pages yourself. This means we will set up the pages and customize the design.

OR

2) Branding package - includes double-sided biz card and standard stationary design

OR

3) 5 hrs of Marketing consultation (phone or in person)

Rules:
1) You CAN enter if you are a writer/illustrator (published or pre-published - this means you are writing and not yet published :). So even if you have a draft. All writers are eligible!)
2) You CAN enter if you are directly connected to book publishing (editor/agent - maybe you have an author that needs a web site!)
3) You CAN be self published.
4) You CANNOT be a freelance. You must be associated with publishing books directly. Not just editing them on the side or doing copywriting on the side.
5) ONLY Comments made DURING MARCH are eligible. Not before or after that. I will go by the date/time stamp on my blogger comment page.

Process (I will be tracking all this on a spreadsheet)
1) Starting on March 1st, I will begin counting comments. (Comments can be on ANY post on my site. I just will only track the ones made from March 1st thru March 31)
2) At the end of the month (March 31st at midnight.) - I will count all the points for for each person.
3) The person who has the most points wins.
4) If there is a tie in total points - I will put those names into a hat and draw the winner.

How do you get points, you ask?

Points

• 1 point per comment. If you want to do 25 comments a day - go for it! (I probably odn't need to say this but vulgar or mean comments don't count. And obviously, they cannot be anonymous. I will still be monitoring and approving the comments.;)

Feeling Crazy Bonus Points

• 2 points if you follow my blog
  2 points if you follow me on Twitter
  2 points if you friend me on facebook
• 5 extra points - if you add me to your blog roll (you must email me and let me know) (If you already have me on your blog roll - email me after March 1st and tell me. I just have to be on your blog roll during that time period. I dont have to be added during that time)
• 5 extra points - if you post about my contest (you must email me and let me know) - The post can be now but I will only count if the post is up during the month of March. Again it all comes down to the march dates.

(And if you are really feeling crazy and wacky - I'll even give out an extra 25 extra points if you get agents/editors to visit me and comment but they'd have to tell me you sent them :) Ha Ha!

For example - IF X comments everyday in March - X will have 31 points. If X then adds me to her blog roll and post about my contest - X will get an extra 10 points = 41 points.

BTW - this weekend, if you are close to Atlanta, come and join us for our Springmingle. I am speaking Friday night on Marketing - Don't be afraid of the M Word and have offered a free 5 page web site for their random drawing at the conference. You can go to the web site for more details and conference information.

If this contest is successful - maybe I will do this contest quarterly!

So Starting March 1st - Comment Your Butt Off! (No this is not the new weight loss craze :) I am not guaranteeing any inches off your glutes. Just a web site or marketing option. Ha! Good question though!

Who knows - You may get a free custom-designed web site ! :) that you can populate easily. What do you have to lose besides your anonymity.

Worth $1,000! (yes - this is what I would charge if I was doing a basic design template on a web site (with copy is much more). For those who asked - I give 20% off to all writers/authors on my marketing prizes and 30% off to SCBWI members :)

Good luck! ;)