Blog Promos
Lately I’ve seen quite a few blog posts giving away promotional items that the blogger has either purchased for themselves (t-shirts from Cafe Press, for instance) or items given to them from other companies. I don’t have a problem with this. I love pens and will take free ones whenever I get the chance (I used to use a pen and write on paper, can you believe that?). But the fad has gotten a little out of hand in some ways, I think. For instance, do I really want to enter for a chance to win 500 (entrecard) credits? And is that badge I might get really something I want to clutter my sidebar?
There have been some really good blog promotions (that’s what I call a blog “giveaway”). Get out the word for a chance to win $100? Sure. I can do that. I would definitely like to enter for a chance to win that DVD (just an example). But I can’t find the good stuff through all the junk. I don’t want to give you 500 links for 500 credits. I’m not going to pay you to Stumble my blog. I just want to have fun with this stuff. And there are some fun ones- if you can find them.
Speaking of StumbleUpon reminds me of yet another issue I have with some blog promotions. I use SU quite frequently and usually really enjoy it. But when I stumble upon 5 or 6 pages in a row that aren’t really suited for the service- such as another “Top Ten” list - I get really frustrated. Yes, I know that people want to get eyeballs to their blogs and that they want to drive a lot of traffic there (especially those enrolled in RealRank). But sometimes they’re just not good enough. And that takes away from my enjoyment of the service, as I’m sure it does to others. Getting eyeballs that don’t want to read your stuff isn’t really a good idea. In the end your reputation is damaged and your traffic will dive.
I think a good service, designed specifically for bloggers promoting their own pages, is Blogging Zoom. It won’t get these bloggers the same kind of traffic as from SU or Digg, but it will bring some eyeballs. And it won’t get the bloggers banned, shunned, or labeled spammers. Also, most of these particular kinds of bloggers don’t create the kind of content that will be loved by the general Internet population. They create blog posts that resound with bloggers. So, stick with tools designed just for that.
Also, if you come across any really good blog contests, drop me a line. I’m always interested in checking them out.
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