Participate in Giveaway Events

One simple way to grow your mailing list is to participate in giveaway events. If you’ve never been part of a giveaway, you might be wondering what happens during one. Here’s how they typically work: one business owner decides to create a giveaway. She asks other online business owners to contribute a product of their own.

After the giveaway goes live, people can sign up for it. They typically give their email address and name. In exchange, they receive instructions on how to claim their goodies from each of the business owners. Then they use a coupon code or special link to access the product you’re giving away.

The advantage of contributing a product is that it grows your list. Depending on the giveaway you’re joining, you may get hundreds or even thousands of sign ups. Plus, you get to form valuable relationships with other online business owners.

So, if you’re interested in participating in a giveaway, how do you get started? Begin by following some of these tips…

Look for Giveaways

Before you can participate, you need to find the giveaways. Go to your business groups on Facebook or LinkedIn. Make a post and ask for giveaway recommendations. You’ll probably have a few comments that can get you going in the right direction.

You may also want to try using a search engine. Go to Google and type in the names of marketers you know and the word giveaway. For example: Kelly McCausey + giveaway event. Another word that may be useful is “free summit”. For example: Angela Wills + free summit. (I have experience with both of these ladies - which is why I use them as examples. Check them out!).

Make a Product

Once you have a few giveaways that you’d like to participate in, you need to create a product. Don’t panic if you’ve never made a product. You can create one easily by using PLR content from Coach Glue or Piggy Makes Bank.

Simply buy a PLR product, add your own branding and upload it to your website. Just make sure your product is relevant to your business.

If you sell weight loss products, then creating a product on Google Analytics isn’t likely to attract your target customers. But if your product was about natural cleaning solutions, then your ideal audience would enjoy your product and happily download it.

Write 2-3 Emails

A requirement for many participants in a giveaway event is that they email their list. Even if you only have one subscriber, create a series of emails about the event.

Your first message could be about the giveaway and how excited you are to be part of it. In the second message, talk about the giveaway and highlight a few products that might appeal to your subscribers. 

Your third message should be sent to your subscribers on the final day of the event. Mention how much you’ve enjoyed the event then remind your list that it’s the last day to claim their freebies. Encourage them to sign up so they don’t miss out.

Don’t Be Bummed…

Some (but not all) giveaways have certain requirements. For example, one host only wants contributions from business owners who have a list of 5,000+ subscribers. Others may want you to have a product on a specific topic in order to participate.

If you see these giveaways, don’t get discouraged. Keep a list of them and when you’ve grown your list or have a product on that topic, you can join next time.

Participating in giveaways is fun and rewarding. But there is some initial set up work to make sure everything flows smoothly for your new subscribers.